Not-So Distant Padawan
by Jackiewings234
Summary: A few months after the Ghost crew had left Slugterra, the two brothers went their separate ways, leaving a small token of their worlds behind for each other. What will happen when the two worlds cross once more? (Sequel to 'Not-So Distant Relatives')
1. Movie Night

"... Eli, hurry up, or we'll start the movie without you!" Trixie shouted over her shoulder, flipping a movie disc in her hands.

"Pronto, don't eat all of the popcorn!" Kord groaned.

The molenoid huffed after swallowing a mouthful, crossing his arms.

Junjie quickly stole a small handful, sharing a couple pieces with his slugs.

"Sorry Kord," He said, popping the kernel into his mouth.

"But it takes true patience to wait for the movie to eat your popcorn."

Pronto smirked for a second before putting on a confused expression.

"Uhhh... why would the movie eat my popcorn?"

 **(Saw this joke on Pinterest. Taking it.)**

Eli snorted with laughter.

It had been a couple months since the first time he met Ezra.

Literally, pretty much _everything_ happened since then.

Junjie, the Goon, the Elementals...

... His father...

Eli closed his eyes and sighed.

Enough to fill three movies, as Pronto had said. ( **PRONTO!)**

Whatever that meant.

Eli had tried nearly very night to try and make contact with his father through the Force, only to find nothing.

 _Nothing._

He hadn't even found the time to tell Ezra yet, about how he had seen their father once more.

About the possibility that their father was... gone.

But that was another story.

Anyway, the Elementals were tricky at first, raising random tornados and setting stores ablaze at random, but they were perfectly behaved by now.

Right?

The slugs whispered among each other for a moment, giggling mischievously.

"Well, if eating popcorn is a crime," Pronto was saying.

"Then I should be thrown in the fiery depths of-"

The Fire elemental quickly jumped onto his hand, bursting the popcorn pieces into flames.

Pronto screamed his head off, running around in panicked circles.

"Fire on my hand, hand is burning, _hand burning!"_

"Hold still!" Trixie shouted, chasing the molenoid around to snuff out the flames.

Eli jumped up in surprise, knocking his blaster out of it's holster.

The lightsaber ignited as the blaster hit the floor, sending slugs jumping in surprise.

"Wha- what is _that?!_ " Junjie's eyes widened in surprise as the blade sliced the old couch open.

By now, the whole room was sent into absolute chaos, with slugs flying, the Shane gang running after a screaming molenoid, and Eli trying to grab his blaster/lightsaber without cutting off his hand.

"Gotcha!" Eli said triumphantly as he finally deactivated his lightsaber before it sliced any slugs in half.

"Pronto! Stop moving!" Kord yelled as the molenoid knocked over a lamp, sending several slugs flying through the air.

"The Elementals!" Trixie gasped, swiping at the air to try to catch the slugs.

The Elementals were flying all over the place, knocking over pots and plants and slug tubes and sending them flying onto the floor.

"Oh no." Eli groaned.

All five slugs were flung against the blades of the ceiling fan, transforming them into velocity as they circled the room.

"What are they doing?!" Trixie shouted as they began circling the room at increasing speed.

"I don't know!" Eli shouted as he was knocked off his feet.

A blinding light filled the room as the slugs moved faster and faster still.

"Hold on!" He shouted.

Then, all at once, everything was gone.

No Elementals, no slugs, no Shane gang. The poor ceiling fan now hung lopsided from the ceiling, it's blades bent out of shape.

Pronto popped up from his cover underneath the couch, wide eyed and covered in soot and ash.

"Hello?" He squeaked, looking around bug-eyed.

Nobody answered.

The molenoid weakly blew out the fire on his hand before falling into a faint.

* * *

A bright light stung at Eli's eyes.

At first, he was worried that the whole hideout had blown up.

But no.

This wasn't the Lumino ore that shone down in the depths of Slugterra.

Eli groaned, shaking his head as he sat up.

"What the..."

Eli screwed up his eyes in the light.

"... Move it, Loth-rat!" A gruff voice growled as a hand shoved him across the ground.

" _Loth-rat?_ " Eli muttered, rubbing his eyes.

As his sight slowly adjusted to the light, he found himself in a place which, to say the least, was _definitely_ not Slugterra.

Or Earth, for that matter.

Eli's eyes widened as he stood up and glanced at his surroundings.

The Shane stood in the midst of a small marketplace, filled with people and vendors which probably weren't even human. The air had a foreign tinge in smell.

The sun (or at least, what seemed like the sun) shone bright in the sky.

"This feels familiar..." Eli muttered to himself as he allowed himself to wander, while searching for his gang.

Eli subconsciously stepped backward, bumping someone by mistake.

"Hey, watch where you're going, Loth-scum!" A voice growled.

"Sorry." Eli said quickly, turning around to look at who he bumped into.

He came face to face with a white-armored man, that he only knew from Ezra's descriptions.

A stormtrooper.

"Hey, I know you."

The stormtrooper roughly grabbed Eli by the arm.

"Hey- let me go!" Eli grunted, struggling against the trooper's grip.

"You're one of those rebel Insurgents, the one who stole a tie fighter for a meiloorun fruit!" The trooper said sternly, holding his weapon towards Eli's head.

Eli watched some passerby's avert their attentions to elsewhere, not wanting any trouble.

"I don't know what you're-" Eli stopped mid sentence.

 _Ezra._

The stormtrooper thought he was Ezra.

Eli quickly changed his tone.

"Alright, you got me," Eli said, putting his arms up in false surrender, catching the trooper off guard.

"What-?"

"Only joking."

Eli quickly made a grab for his blaster, loaded, and fired, leaving the stormtrooper tangled and bound in a sticky web.

"... Maybe I should've thought this through." Eli said as dozens of stormtroopers flooded the area, and all of the citizens dived away for safety.

"Get him!" One trooper shouted as they all armed their guns.

Before Eli could reach his blaster, a blast of fire knocked the stromtroopers off their feet.

" _Whoa!_ " Eli yelped as a hand pulled him away from the troopers and into a small alley.

"Split up!" A stormtrooper shouted as he ran past the alley, leading a band of troopers.

"He can't be too far!"

Eli sighed in relief.

"Thanks," He said, turning towards the person who saved him.

A familiar face stepped out of the shadows.

"Eli?"

Eli gasped.

"Ezra!"

* * *

 **Come on, you guys missed me. I know you guys missed me. If you don't, you're lying.**

 **Huh, a sequel which comes out exactly seven days after the original story? It's a miracle!**

 **So, if you basically didn't understand the chapter so far, then let me break it down.**

 **It's movie night with the Shane gang, the Elementals all reach velocity at once, and everyone (minus Pronto) is sent to Lothal.**

 **Yep. *Flips hair like a pro* _Awesome._ **

**You're welcome.**

 **(P.S. Sorry for the messed up chapter earlier!)**


	2. Heliophobia

**Hello! I'm glad you guys like the sequel! Yeah, so the first chapter was a little iffy and kinda messed up when I first uploaded the wrong document DXX**

 **Ugh. I'm still a noob at this, remember that.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The twins stepped away from each other in surprise.

Eli quickly took in his brother's appearance.

Nothing had changed since the last time he saw him... other than the small scar on his cheek.

Ezra looked at Eli from head to toe before breaking into a smile.

"Hey there, brother." Ezra chuckled.

"Hey there, brother." Eli laughed, as they clapped their hands together.

"But- but _how?_ " Ezra stammered once they stepped back.

Eli shrugged.

"I'd like to know the same."

The Shane glanced around the dimly lit alley.

"So... I'm just gonna guess that this is Lothal?"

"Yep."

Ezra nodded his head towards the marketplace.

"See that those bucket heads gave you a warm welcome?"

Eli chuckled softly.

"Warm welcomes are a little more threatening than I remember."

"That's... kind of the way things are around here, unlike your life down in Slugterra."

Eli suddenly froze.

"Wait. Where's the rest of my gang?"

Ezra opened his mouth to respond when his com went off.

"Spectre 6?" Zeb's voice sounded through the com.

Shouts and yelling could be heard in the background.

"Spectre 4? What's going on?" Ezra asked.

"Well... we have a couple of your brother's crew back at the Ghost. Minus, um, your brother."

"That's them!" Eli said.

Ezra continued.

"Got my brother right here, Spectre 4. I'll bring him over now."

The twins could hear Zeb sighing from the other end over the screaming.

"Hurry, kid, they're making my ears bleed."

* * *

"... Looks like you have a pretty strong connection with your slugs." Eli mused as he and Ezra made their way through the grassy fields towards the Ghost.

Ezra grinned as his Flaringo hopped from his pack onto his shoulder.

"Eli, meet Aliit."

Eli held up the slug as it hopped into his hand, chirping happily.

"Aliit, huh?" Eli smiled warmly, earning a small chirrup in return.

"Does that mean something?"

"It's Mando'a. Sabine's language."

Ezra watched the slug hop back up his arms and into his pack.

"It means family."

Eli glanced at Ezra with a half smile.

"Sabine picked it out." Ezra simply said.

The twins walked into the Ghost, where an exhausted looking Zeb was slumped against a wall.

"Took you long enough," The Lasat grumbled.

Eli glanced around.

"Where are they?" He asked.

Zeb jabbed a finger down the hall.

"They've been in there for a while," Zeb groaned tiredly.

"Sabine's in there trying to coax them out."

The twins looked at each other before running down to Ezra's room.

"You've got to be kidding me." Eli deadpanned as he stuck his head though the door.

"Come on, guys, the sun isn't going to hurt you..." Sabine was saying.

In the dark room, the faint outlines of Kord and Trixie could be seen sitting in the corner.

"Eli," Trixie said once she noticed him.

"Are we-?"

"Yeah... we are..."

Eli took a moment to process what was going on.

"Where's Junjie?" Eli asked, looking around.

Trixie pointed towards Zeb and Ezra's bunk.

The twins squinted in the dark to see their newest member curled up in a tight ball on the top bunk, holding his knees against his chest.

Junjie was holding up a little worse than the others, burying his chin in his knees.

"We're in the Burning World," He was muttering, with his eye flittering towards the ground.

Eli cringed a little, pressing his lips together.

He had never planned on explaining his past to Junjie.

"They freaked out when they saw the sun,"

Sabine brushed her colorful hair out of her eyes.

"Then they wound up in here."

Eli sighed and glanced around once more.

"Wait. Where's Pronto?"

* * *

"Out of _all_ the times she places me in the plot..." Pronto groaned as he _shut his trap_ and _went on with the story_ like he's supposed to.

 **(Ahem, _Pronto_.)**

The molenoid huffed and rolled his eyes.

"With the Shane gang missing from Slugterra," The molenoid said confidently.

"It will be up to _Pronto Geronimole,_ their _bravest_ member, to save them!"

Pronto took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

" _HEEEELLLP!_ " The molenoid screamed, bursting through the door and taking off on his mecha.

" _HEEEELLLLLPPP!_ "

Pronto went on and on like this until a loud blast stopped him in his tracks.

"Well, look at what we have here!" Locke cackled, sliding off of his mecha.

Lode snorted, resting his blaster crookedly against his shoulder.

"Yo, ain't that the Shane's molenoid?" He sniggered.

Pronto puffed up his chest, sticking his nose in the air.

"The _Shane's_ molenoid?" Pronto snorted.

" _I_ am _Pronto Geronimole_! _I_ ask the questions around here!"

Locke rose to his full height, leaving Pronto shrinking nervously in his shadow.

"Where's your _gang_ , mole?" He growled.

"Uhhh... out for sushi?"

Pronto laughed nervously.

Locke shot a glance at his twin **(How ironic.)** and chuckled.

Pronto quickly shut up as they both loaded their blasters.

"Uh no." Pronto squeaked.

* * *

"Guys, _come on._ It's not like it's going to burn you alive or something!" Eli groaned, trying to usher his friends to go outside.

The Shane gang stood stubbornly in place.

"Sorry Eli," Kord huffed.

"But... it's all _hot_ and stuff."

By now, Ezra looked pretty much done with life.

"It's sunlight!" The young padawan rubbed at his forehead.

"Of _course_ it's hot!"

"Hey, give them a break." Eli said.

"It's the first time they've actually seen the sun."

Junjie briefly glanced back up at the twins.

"You've been up here before?" He asked quietly.

"Well... it's complicated." Eli scratched his head.

Ezra sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, see?"

Ezra walked down the Ghost's ramp and into the sun's rays.

"Nothing."

Trixie hesitantly held out an arm towards the sunlight before quickly pulling back.

"It's called heliophobia," Eli sighed.

"An irrational fear of sunlight."

Ezra looked at his brother questioningly.

Eli shrugged.

"Lots of dad's slugs had it whenever he came back up." He explained, biting back anything else about their father.

Ezra groaned.

"Okay," Ezra said, exhaling slowly.

"Whatever we do, we can't mention this to-"

"Ahem."

Ezra pressed his lips together.

"Heeeey, Kanan. Hera."

Ezra laughed nervously.

"How'd the supply run go?"

The jedi and twi'lek didn't look amused.

"Inside." Hera crossed her arms.

" _Now._ "


	3. Good Times

**[This chapter has been slightly edited]**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The two groups stood awkwardly in the meeting room, with Kanan and Hera looming over the rest.

"... Sup." Eli grinned nervously to lighten the mood.

Kanan closed his eyes with a sigh.

"Ezra," Kanan said, raising his voice slightly.

"Would you care to explain why there were three times the normal amount of Stormtroopers in the city when I got there?"

Ezra chuckled nervously. Eli cleared his throat.

"That... might have been on me."

Kanan glanced at Eli expectantly.

"Some random Stormtrooper thought I was Ezra." Eli explained.

Hera crossed her arms.

"Speaking of Ezra," The pilot's eyes glared at the young padawan.

"What were you doing in the city without backup?"

Ezra sighed and shrugged.

"I had a feeling, okay? Jedi stuff."

"We've been going by a lot of _feelings_ lately," Zeb huffed.

Ezra made a face at the lasat, who made one right back.

"Great. Since _that's_ out of the way..." Kanan shifted his eyes over to the group squished onto one bench.

"...What's the Shane gang doing on Lothal?"

Ezra held up his hands.

"This one's not on me."

Trixie puffed a strand of hair out of her face.

"We'd like to know that too," She sighed.

Chopper beeped grumpily from the hallway.

"Wh- _again,_ Chop?" Hera groaned tiredly.

"Kanan, help me out up front, would you? And as for you guys,"

The twi'lek nodded towards the Shane gang, still uneasy from seeing the sun for the first time.

"I guess... sit tight. We'll figure something out when everything's sorted out."

Kanan nodded, glancing over at the twins.

"You two take the time to catch up a bit."

As Kanan and Hera disappeared down the hallway, Eli stole a quick glance at Junjie. He hadn't really found the time to mention Ezra back in Slugterra. I mean, how would he even bring it up? _Hey, Junjie, what's up? Oh, by the way, I have a long-lost twin brother who lives in space!_

Even in his head it sounded stupid.

Ezra nudged Eli on the shoulder.

He tilted his head forward, then towards Junjie. Then, he made a talking gesture with his hand.

" _Now,_ " He mouthed.

Eli saw that as his cue.

"Junjie," He started, stepping aside so he could see clearly.

"I'd like you to meet my twin, Ezra."

As if on instinct, Junjie stood up and bowed his head.

Ezra raised an eyebrow, then shook his head and smiled.

"I should probably explain the rest of the story..." Eli began.

* * *

"It's a miracle that you guys decided to step outside again." Eli chuckled.

While everyone else stood in the warmth of the lazing Lothal sun, the Shane gang chose to sit in the shadow of the Ghost.

Ezra shrugged.

"Call it progress." He said humorously.

"How'd you guys even get up here?"

Eli reached a hand into his arsenal of slugs.

"Well... I'm guessing it was these guys." He said. Out he lifted the Elemental slugs, chirruping after a rough night's sleep.

"New slugs?" Ezra pet one on the head with a finger.

"Yeah, sort of. They're called the Elementals. They're pretty much the ancestors of all the slugs in Slugterra, not to mention the most powerful."

Ezra whistled, quickly drawing back his hand.

"So how'd you guys end up with them?"

"It's a _really_ long story."

Ezra rolled his eyes.

"Still doesn't explain how you got here."

Eli rubbed his neck as the slugs started to run around, playing in the tall grass.

"It's kinda complicated, now that I think about it. Maybe it has something to do with reaching velocity at the same time?"

"I suppose anything's possible, given the circumstances."

Junjie shrugged, walking as far as the Ghost's shadow would go beside the twins.

The three jumped as a patch of grass burst into flames as the Fire Elemental jumped through the field.

"I've got it!"

Eli quickly fired an Aquabeek to rouse the fire, which went out with a hiss.

"That reminds me," Eli turned to Ezra.

"Where are the slugs I gave you?"

Ezra's grin only grew as he held out his arms.

One by one, five slugs hopped out of his backpack and down to his hands.

Eli bent down to get a closer look.

"How long were you practicing that?" He said jokingly.

Ezra turned a shade red.

"Like... five weeks or so?"

" _Five?_ " Sabine called from a distance.

"Fine. Seven. And three days."

Eli resisted a snort.

"You don't mind introducing me to your slugs?"

"He was gonna whether you liked it or not," Zeb sniggered as he passed by.

Ezra stole a glare at Zeb. Then he held up his hands so Eli could see.

"Eli, this is Spes, Gemini, Nexu, Cor, and... well, you've already met Aliit."*

Aliit, Eli already knew was a Flaringo.

Spes was clearly a Slicksilver slug.

Gemini was a Hoverbug.

Nexu was a Rammstone.

Cor was a Frostcrawler.

"I have to admit, they've been a pretty big help over the past couple of months." Sabine said as Gemini fluttered above her head.

"Yesterday Aliit blew up his first Walker!"

At this, Aliit literally lit up with pride.

"Walker?" Eli asked.

"Basically a giant imperial land shooter with legs," Ezra explained.

"Huh."

Eli still found it hard to believe he once lived here on Lothal.

* * *

Kanan and Hera listened from just inside the ramp of the Ghost.

"The kids seem to be getting along just fine," Hera smiled.

Kanan took another glance outside. Both crews had merged into one big group, telling stories to each other.

"Eli and Ezra have been apart for like, what, eight years? They've been talking for a few minutes and it's like they've known each other for their whole lives!"

Hera crossed her arms, leaning against the wall.

"Funny how life works, doesn't it?"

Kanan opened his mouth to say something when Chopper beeped urgently.

Hera opened up a message and listened.

"That was Vizago," Hera sighed once the message was done.

"He says he has another job for us."

Kanan looked up.

"Hera, I don't really think it's a good time for an op, seeing that the Shane gang's here and all..."

The twi'lek placed a gentle hand on Kanan's shoulder.

"Hun, we could really use the credits. Besides,"

Hera nodded her head towards the twins, who were both on their feet competing to tell the best story.

"Ezra could really use the time with Eli. It'll be fun."

Kanan sighed.

"I'm probably going to regret this."

* * *

 *** All of Ezra's slugs were named with a special meaning. I'll leave it to you guys to figure it out!**


	4. The Situation Op

**Did any of you guys figure out the meanings of the names of Ezra's slugs? If you did, great job!**

 **Hope everyone's having a great summer! I am- I just came back from surfing!**

 **So what'd you guys do this summer that might make me jealous?**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Kanan?" Ezra asked as he walked in with the rest of the crew.

"You called us?"

The Jedi sighed.

"We just got a message from Vizago. He's got a job for us. On other circumstances, I'd turn it down, seeing our current situation,"

Kanan briefly glanced at the Shane gang.

"But, we're kind of in the need for credits right now."

"So, what we're just going to let them tag along on the op?" Zeb leaned up against the wall impatiently.

"It's a grab and go mission," Kanan said.

"It might just be best that they do."

"Uh, isn't their heliophobia going to be a problem?" Sabine asked.

Eli looked at his gang nervously.

They haven't even gotten as close as sticking a toe into the sunlight, nevertheless standing in it.

"We'll have to go by night, then." said Kanan.

"Vizago will have to understand."

Ezra looked over at his brother.

"What do you guys say?"

Ezra wore a small half-smile on his face.

"Are you guys in?"

Eli looked back at his gang.

"Guys?" Eli asked.

Junjie hesitated for a moment.

"If it will help your cause," said he.

Junjie pressed a hand to his chest and bowed his head slightly.

"Then I would be honored."

Trixie put her hands to her hips and smiled.

"Then I'm in too."

"That makes three of us," Kord grinned.

"Then it's settled." Ezra said, turning towards Kanan.

"So what's our plan?"

"We'll be stealing an Imperial shipment of crates and delivering them back to Tarkin Town." Kanan said, making motions with his arms.

"Our intel says that it'll have a pretty heavy escort, so it'll have to be important."

"Doesn't sound too hard," Eli said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Not any different from any other op, isn't it?" Ezra crossed his arms.

"I should hope not," Kanan sighed, rubbing his neck.

"It's been a rough couple of weeks as is."

"You guys better get some rest while waiting for the sun to go down," said Hera, turning to follow Kanan.

"We all might need it."

Eli sighed as the silence settled upon the room.

"Eli."

Eli felt Ezra's hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah?" asked Eli.

Ezra lightly jerked his head towards Junjie's direction.

Junjie was leaned uncomfortably against the wall, his eyes flittering with uncertainty towards the ground.

Eli sighed once more.

"I better go talk to him," Eli said.

"You mind?"

"Nope. Do what you have to do."

Eli felt a heavy drag in his step as he approached Junjie.

"Hey."

Junjie looked up.

"Please excuse me for my behavior, Eli," said Junjie, straightening up.

"It's just... difficult to understand everything at once."

"Yeah," Eli rubbed his neck.

"I know how you feel."

The two remained quiet for some time.

"Listen," Eli started.

"I know you're probably wondering why I never told you about... about all _this_..."

Junjie shook his head.

"I know that the Surface should be kept a secret from Slugterra, Eli." He said.

"What I don't understand is... why?"

"If anyone on the Surface were to suddenly find out about a world beneath their feet, the whole world would be trying to dig deep enough to find it."

Eli exhaled deeply.

"Same goes for the people of Slugterra. I hope you'll understand."

Junjie nodded silently.

"I just hope Pronto's got things under control down there," Eli sighed.

* * *

 _BOOM!_

Pronto squealed in fear as another shower of dust rained down.

"Can't we just talk this one out?" Pronto shouted from his cover behind a boulder.

"You're hidin' something, mole!" Locke yelled, firing another Rammstone.

Pronto screamed and dove out of the way as his cover was blown to bits.

"I don't like how this story goes!" Pronto cried.

Too bad.

Pronto scurried across the cavern as quickly as he could, with Locke and Lode close on his heels.

"There you are!" Lode sniggered, raising his blaster to fire.

"Easy, brother," Locke said, puling his mecha beast to a stop.

Pronto snorted.

"... You guys are twins..." The molenoid giggled nervously.

"Ironic..."

"Shut it, mole," Locke growled.

"We 'ought to kick your little..."

The twin slowly trailed off as he noticed three large shadows looming over the three of them.

"Uh oh..." Lode said.

"Run for it!"

The (other) twins hopped onto their mechas and quickly sped away.

"Ha! That's right, you better run!" Pronto laughed haughtily.

"Hm! Even with the Shane gang missing, Pronto still saves the day-"

Pronto froze mid-sentence as he felt the heavy breathing on his neck.

"Hehe..."

Pronto slowly turned around, and came face-to-face with a snarling slug hound.

"What's this I hear about the Shane gang missing?" A hoarse voice growled.

Pronto laughed nervously.

* * *

The Shane gang stood in awe as they watched the ship fly high above the mountains and plains of Lothal.

"I never even knew this was possible..." Trixie said as she sat next to Hera in the cockpit, leaning towards the window.

"You'll get used to it eventually, hun." Hera said as the ship started to descend.

Eli was still trying to get over being in a flying spaceship for the first time.

The Shane sighed as he looked over his home planet.

Well, the first time he could remember.

"Okay, we're nearing the drop point," said Kanan as they landed in a grassy field.

"Remember the plan?"

Everyone nodded, hopping on some 'borrowed' speeders.

"Get the crates, get out alive." Ezra said, cracking his knuckles.

"Exactly," Kanan said.

" _Without_ drawing too much attention to ourselves." The Jedi shot a look at his padawan.

"Understood?"

Everyone nodded again.

"Good. Let's go."

Without hesitation, the group sped off in the direction of the Imperial transport on speeders.

There was a familiar thrill, riding through the fields of Lothal together, that neither Eli nor Ezra could place their fingers on.

 _Weird,_ Eli thought.

Ezra stole a brief glance towards his twin, but said nothing.

Maybe it was simply woven deep into their past.

Sabine's voice snapped the twins from their thoughts.

"I see it!" Sabine said through her helmet.

"Spectre 4," shouted Kanan.

Zeb nodded.

The lasat quickly drew his bo-rifle and sped up to the front of the carrier's escort.

Gunfire, shouts, and screaming could be heard as Stormtroopers were roughly thrown off of their speeders and into the fields.

"Whoa!" Eli yelped.

The Shane quickly swerved his speeder out of the way of a Stormtrooper hurled in his direction.

The soldier bounced and tumbled a couple times before disappearing in the tall grass.

"That was real close!" Eli thought out loud.

"Spectre 7!" Ezra yelled to Eli.

Ezra motioned towards the carrier.

"Got it, Spectre 6!" Eli shouted back.

As if on cue, both twins made a leap towards the moving carrier, with Eli falling short

"Come on!" Ezra gritted, pulling up Eli as he grasped at the carrier's roof.

"Tough business, huh?" Eli panted as he tried to catch his breath.

"You'll get used to it." Ezra said.

"Stop right there!" A Stormtrooper shouted at the twins, raising his blaster.

"Wait. _Two_ of you?"

Eli and Ezra looked at each other.

"Not this guy again," muttered Eli.

The trooper shook his head and prepared to fire before a giant ball of flame struck his back, knocking him a good distance away from the carrier.

"Thanks, J- er, Spectre 8," Eli corrected himself.

Junjie grinned and waved his blaster, speeding up towards the front of the transport.

"Come on, help me out," Ezra said. Eli nodded, still overwhelmed from the new action.

With a flick of their wrists, both twins ignited their lightsabers at once.

"Nice," Ezra commented.

"Buuut... isn't that your blaster?"

"Yes. Yes it is," Eli smiled, waving his saber around.

"Kid, just get the door open, would ya?" Sabine shouted from below.

Ezra chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"I got it!"

Leaning out over the edge of the carrier, the twins swiftly sliced at the metal door, shearing it clean off.

"What the-!" An Imperial stuttered at the twins hanging upside-down at the door.

"Surprise," Ezra grinned, firing a stun shot from the hilt of his lightsaber.

The twins climbed inside as the Stormtoopers knocked to the floor unconscious.

"Mine doesn't do that!" Eli half-whined.

Ezra grinned as he took the controls of the carrier.

"Nope."

"Guys," Trixie yelled from outside.

"The crates!"

Ezra frowned as he started pushing at a button.

Eli sensed his tension.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Crates won't release," Ezra grunted.

"Hey- the steering's jammed, too!"

"What?!" Kanan pulled into view with his speeder.

Ezra spammed the controls some more.

" _Nothing's working!_ " Ezra shouted.

"This thing's not gonna stop!"

" _What?!_ " Eli shouted back.

"Eli, Ezra!" A voice said from the outside.

Junjie's speeder came into view.

"I don't wish to alarm you, but we're getting awfully close to those boulders!"

The twins whipped up their heads.

The 'boulders' were more like mountains, growing closer and closer by the second. They wouldn't survive if they crashed.

"Any chance rocks are soft and fluffy on Lothal?" asked Eli, his eyes widening.

Ezra pulled a face.

"Of course not!" He said in a panicked voice.

Eli's heart began to race as the boulders grew bigger and bigger.

"Then we might have a situation!"

* * *

 _ **Might?**_ **No, they** **DEFINITELY have a situation.**

 **Note: Be honest, is this as good as the first fanfic? Yay? Nay? Okay?**

 **Also, I'm _thinking_ about a name change. Would you guys we okay with that? Feel free to suggest new names if you like!**


	5. Free Pie!

**I'm baaaack!**

 **Alright, since you guys probably won't figure this out on your own, try going to Google Translate and entering in the names of Ezra's slugs. You might be surprised! (Hint: They're in Latin)**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Forget the crates!" Kanan yelled, crushing the controls of his speeder.

"Just get yourselves out of there before we crash!"

Ezra quickly snapped out of his shocked stupor and grabbed Eli by the shoulder.

"Come on!"

The carrier suddenly jerked sideways, knocking both twins off of their feet. Ezra was roughly thrown against the wall. The control panel beeped, and two doors slid open to reveal the stack of crates.

"The crates!" Ezra gasped.

The carrier jumped against the ground again, slamming Eli against the pile. A tinge of pain stung at his leg as the crates pinned Eli to the ground.

"I'm... stuck!" Eli grunted as he tried to budge the heavy crates from his leg.

Ezra got down on his knees to try to lift the boxes off of his brother.

No good.

"I could use a little help!" Ezra shouted as he tried to find the hover button on the crates.

The crew outside sped alongside the carrier as the rocks grew to be a minute away.

"Joo-Joo!" Junjie ordered.

The Infurnus slug obediently nodded and summersaulted into Junjie's waiting blaster.

"Whatever you're thinking, do it quick!" Kanan shouted.

Junjie slitted his eyes and fired his blaster.

Joo-Joo soared high above the group, his flames lighting up the dark fields. Junjie made a motion with his hands.

"Come on..." Junjie muttered through gritted teeth.

Kanan's eyes widened as he watched closely.

Junjie fell into a state of concentration, making slow and fluid motions with his hands. His Infurnus immediately responded, swooping down beside the rogue carrier.

"He's a Jedi?!" Kanan shouted to the Shane gang.

Kord shrugged. "He calls it Slug Fu."

Joo-Joo spread his flaming wings and, on Junjie's command, rammed into the front of the carrier, using all of his strength to slow the vehicle down.

"Whoa!"

Ezra lost his footing and crashed beside Eli with the impact on the carrier.

"What the-!" Ezra groaned as he banged his head against the metal wall.

Eli caught sight of Junjie outside as he channeled his Slug Fu.

"Junjie's trying to slow us down!" Eli grunted as he tried to force the crates off of his leg.

Ezra looked at the boy as he connected with his slug.

"Is he...?" Ezra was cut off as the carrier rumbled and shook once more. The young padawan abruptly slipped and slammed flat on his back on the floor.

"Ow..." Ezra groaned, rubbing at his head. He quickly looked over the crate on his brother's leg and spotted the gravity switch.

"Got it!" Ezra said as the box lifted itself off of Eli. Eli's leg looked badly twisted, and was covered in what he hoped was red paint.

"To answer your question," Eli grunted as he was helped off the ground.

"No, he isn't. At least, I don't think..."

Ezra leaned out of the broken door.

"Spectre 5!"

Sabine sped up to the door.

"Kid? You guys gotta get out of there!" The mandolorian shouted.

Ezra turned on the gravity lift for the rest of the crates, letting them float outside the carrier.

"You guys get the crates out of here!" Ezra shouted, with Eli leaning on his shoulder.

Sabine held one arm on the crates.

"Are you insane?!" She yelled over the wind.

"We'll be fine!"

Junjie strained his mind and drew heavy breaths as he concentrated on his Slug Fu.

"I don't think I can hold them for much longer..." Junjie said through gritted teeth.

Kanan glanced over at his padawan and his injured brother struggling at the door. Taking in a deep breath, Kanan held up an arm and closed his eyes.

The carrier groaned as it's own weight was held back by the Force. Junjie opened his eyes in surprise, letting Joo-Joo fly above.

"What is this...?" Junjie muttered in confusion as he watched the spectacle.

"Impossible..."

The twins watched as the ground started to move further and further away.

"Kanan?!" Ezra shouted as they rose above the crews' heads.

"What's going on?" Trixie shouted. Kanan's expression tensed up.

"It... won't... hold..." Kanan ground his teeth and tightened his jaw. Junjie's eyes widened. Quickly, Junjie signaled his Infurnus from below.

"Help him, Joo-Joo!" He said sharply, making a small motion with his hand. Within the second, the Infurnus soared above the carrier and started pushing down on the metal roof.

The carrier tried to force itself upward, nearly sending the twins over and out of the door.

"Hey!" Eli shouted as his blaster clattered onto the floor and slid out of the door, falling towards the ground.

"My lightsaber!" Ezra muttered under his breath.

"What?" Eli raised an eyebrow. "What are you-"

Wordlessly, Ezra flipped his saber in his hands rotating and turning the mechanics until a nearly flawless blaster lay in his hands. Eli whistled.

"You made your lightsaber into a blaster?" Eli had a small tinge of amusement in his voice.

"You made _your_ blaster into a lightsaber," Ezra said, loading his blaster.

"I think we both had the same idea."

Eli peered down the long drop towards the ground. The sight was dizzying, and the crew looked like tiny little slugs. At least to him, anyway.

"You got this, Gemini," Eli heard Ezra muttering to his slug as he took aim.

Eli instinctively watched his brother with keen eyes. Ezra's balance looked steady enough, for a beginner. His blaster grip... meh, it was okay. It was his aim, in all honesty, that sucked.

Ezra exhaled deeply and fired.

The Hoverbug soared above the grassy plains, spreading it's wide wings. Ezra closed his eyes, reaching out to his slug with the Force.

Gemini quickly folded in her wings, dropping and turning in midair. Halfway towards the ground, she opened up her wings, swooping up into the air at an incredible speed.

"You practiced that," Eli half chuckled. Ezra rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

"We'd better get out of here quick," Ezra pointed up at the roof.

Correction, the _glowing red hot_ roof.

"Junjie's Infurnus must be overheating the carrier!" Eli shouted as the ceiling began to bend inward.

Ezra glanced over at Gemini fluttering outside the carrier.

"Grab on!" The young padawan shouted.

Eli nodded and quickly stepped forward.

And forgot about his leg.

A sharp, searing pain raced through Eli's leg as he fell forward, head first, out of the carrier.

"Eli!" Ezra shouted, reaching out and grabbing Eli by the arm.

Eli hung out from the floating carrier, with his bad leg stained with red.

"Kanan, can't you lower them down?!" Trixie shouted as she spotted Eli.

A stessed look overcame the Jedi's face.

"It... won't... budge..." Grunted Kanan, keeping his eyes closed. Sabine squinted for a closer look.

"This carrier's an experimental model," She said.

"Anything could be going on up there!"

Eli looked up past Ezra, his eyes suddenly widening.

"Junjie!"

The boy looked up from below.

"Call off Joo-Joo!" Eli shouted, keeping a weary eye on the next to molten ceiling.

Junjie wore a bewildered expression.

"What?!" He shouted. The roof had begun to collapse so much that Ezra had to stoop low to avoid burns.

"Just call him off!"

"Wh- What?!"

Eli sighed and shook his head.

"He can't hear me..." He muttered. The ceiling gave a heavy groan, startling the twins.

"It's going to give and crush us any second!" Ezra shouted.

"Where's Gemini?!"

At those words, the Hoverbug soared beside the door with open wings. Only _just_ out of reach.

"If she gets any closer, she'll get burned," said Eli, scanning the situation.

"We need to jump!"

Ezra shook his head.

"You're injured, and there's two of us. If I miss-"

"Trust me, Ezra!" Eli looked Ezra in the eye.

Ezra took a deep breath, tightening his grip on Eli's hand.

And leapt forward.

* * *

The Shane gang's disappearance spread like wildfire down in Slugterra.

"Did you hear? The Shane Gang just vanished!"

"Eli Shane and his gang are missing!"

"Where did they go?"

"What happened to the Shane Gang?"

Pronto rubbed his face in frustration.

"I don't _KNOW!_ " The molenoid shouted at the questioners.

Disappointed and bored, the crowd slowly disbanded, with one throwing a random pie at Pronto's head.

Pronto huffed, wiping the pie from his face.

"Really?!" The molenoid grumbled.

"Ooh, free pie!" Another random passerby said, taking what was left of the pie and walking away.

"Dean, really?" A voice said.

"But _pie_ , Sam!" The man said as they left. *****

Pronto looked over at the boys with confusion.

"Fandom crossovers," Pronto sighed.

* * *

 ***Yes, Supernatural fans, those WERE the Winchester brothers. Carry on, people who don't understand the reference. My friend just REALLY loves Supernatural. Google it if you don't know.**

 **Any other random crossovers in this fanfic you guys want to see?**

 **Byeeee!**


	6. Secrets And Lies

**Hey! So, I've been** **receiving questions about how far my fanfic is from the Siege of Lothal. Well, I'll try to have this story occur around the same events, with my own little diabolical plot line hidden inside.**

 **Anyway...**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"...Do you have _any_ idea how dangerous that was?"

The twins winced as Hera carefully bandaged and splinted Eli's leg.

"A little." Ezra said nervously. Hera shook her head and continued putting Eli's leg back in place.

"Eli, you should really take better care of that leg of yours. This is the _second_ time I've had to deal with you."

Junjie tilted his head.

"Second?"

"Long story," Eli sighed, cringing a little as Hera twisted his ankle to it's correct position.

"There," The pilot said, standing up.

"Should be good enough to heal."

"Thanks."

Hera nodded, walking out of the room.

"Shouldn't you get your Boon Doc, Eli?" Junjie asked.

Eli shook his head, shooting a side grin at his twin.

"We have a... different way of doing things. Ezra?"

Ezra nodded. Both twins smiled as they felt the familiar, cool pulse in their veins.

Junjie jumped as a soft, green spark shot from Ezra's fingertips.

"What?" Junjie asked with a calm demeanor.

"Long story," said Eli, as they focused their shared power.

Perfect harmony.

The light soon enveloped Eli's injured leg, clouding together in one bright glow, and then slowly fading away.

There was something in the healing that simply felt gratifying. Maybe it was the light.

Or maybe it was the look on Junjie's face as Eli let his bandages unravel.

"You can heal?" He said, half-holding his breath.

Eli gave a tiny grin.

"Surprise," said the Shane, moving around his newly patched leg.

Junjie was amazed for about five seconds.

"But..." said he.

"If you had this power the whole time... why didn't you use it in Slugterra on the Goon Doc? Or even your f-"

"My friend?" Eli quickly cut in, giving Junjie a pleading look.

Ezra glanced over at Eli, but said nothing.

Junjie read his expression and furrowed his brow.

"... Yes...?"

Relief. Eli sighed.

"I can only heal things when I'm with Ezra," He explained.

"It's this weird twin thing."

"I see," Junjie said, his eyes laced with concern.

Eli awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Hera?" Eli shouted quickly.

"How long until we land?"

Hera poked her head from the outside ramp.

"We've _been_ landed," The pilot said, with some amusement.

"We're waiting on you guys outside."

"Oh." Eli turned slightly red.

"We- we should probably go..."

Ezra and Junjie both nodded slowly, following him out of the Ghost.

* * *

"Well, took you guys long enough," Zeb chuckled.

Ezra rolled his eyes.

"Where are we supposed to drop off these crates?" asked he.

"Kanan and Hera are gonna drop them off," said Sabine.

"We're going to help out the people in Tarkin town."

"What exactly _is_ Tarkin town?" Trixie asked, looking around.

A grim silence fell over the Ghost crew as they looked at each other.

"Follow us," Ezra finally said, beckoning the Shane gang to come.

The Shane gang glanced among themselves before walking after the padawan.

Eli gasped at what he saw. Small groups of people were huddled together quietly, looking tired, disheveled, and poor.

"These people," Eli muttered quietly.

"What happened here?"

"Everyone here was kicked off their farms by the Empire," Sabine said as she caught up with the group. She had a large bundle of blankets in her arms.

"Why?" Asked Kord.

Zeb walked up, handing the cave troll another bundle of blankets.

"Take one lucky guess," The lasat said with an edge of sadness in his voice.

Eli took another bunch of blankets in silence.

From the very edge of his eye, he noticed a little boy. An ordinary boy, with messy hair and great, blue eyes.

Something in those eyes touched a darkened part of Eli's mind.

Great blue eyes in hardened times, just like his father and brother.

Eli looked back over his shoulder. Zeb and Sabine already had everyone handing out blankets to the civilians.

"Hey."

The little boy looked up.

Eli held out one of the blankets gingerly.

"Here, take a couple. It's cold out."

The blue-eyed boy hesitated for a moment, looking back at his family.

His mother nodded and motioned him forward.

"Thank you, mister!" The blue-eyed boy said, taking just enough blankets for him and his family.

Eli smiled, walking away to hand out more blankets.

* * *

"I can't believe it..." Trixie muttered.

"These were just... people..."

Hera sighed as she steered the Ghost towards their destination.

"Life can be hard when the Empire takes everything from you. Trust me, we've all felt it."

Eli sighed. There just _had_ to be a different subject.

"Is the Inquisitor still after you guys?"

A silence fell apron the Ghost crew. Kanan shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Ezra rubbed absentmindedly at the scar on his cheek.

"The Inquisitor's... dead."

Eli looked up in surprise.

"Killed himself while I was fighting him," Kanan said, steeling his expression.

Ezra exhaled deeply and shook off his thoughts.

"What about Dr. Blakk?" Ezra asked.

Eli swallowed hard.

"For now, he's gone," He said, clearing his throat again.

"... A friend pushed him down to the Deep caverns."

The Shane gang looked at their leader expectantly.

Junjie sighed in frustration.

"Eli, can I borrow you for a moment?"

Eli nodded.

"Sure."

Ezra briefly glanced at them in confusion as they stepped out into the hallway.

 _He's hiding something..._ Ezra thought, sitting back in his chair.

Eli quickly looked around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping.

"What's up?" He asked.

Junjie's face was twisted in a mix of anger and disbelief.

"Why won't you tell your brother?" He hissed quietly.

Eli's blood froze.

"Tell him what?" Eli said, trying to steer away from the inevitable.

"You know," Snapped Junjie, careful to keep his voice low.

"You avoided speaking of your father twice already. Have you not told him?!"

The Shane exhaled deeply, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Junjie, it's not that easy..."

"He's your brother." Junjie said firmly.

"He deserves to know. If you won't tell him, I will."

Eli sighed.

"Just... not now... please."

Junjie held his gaze for a long moment before sighing.

"Fine. But you _have_ to _tell_ him."

Junjie turned on his heel and walked back to the cockpit, leaving Eli standing alone.

* * *

"Can't we just fly them back to their planet?" Zeb grumbled as the Ghost landed outside of the city.

Hera sighed, standing up from her pilot's chair.

"The exact coordinates were wiped from the Ghost's system. We'll need to find another way before we leave Lothal."

Eli's eyebrows jumped in surprise.

"Leave Lothal?"

Zeb stood up in an angry protest.

"So that's it? We're running because of Minister Tua?"

"We don't have any other choice!" said Hera as they snuck outside an abandoned building.

Eli stopped outside the door for a moment, his eyes widening.

"Is this-?"

"Yeah."

Ezra quietly unlocked the doors.

"Our parent's old house."

Eli looked around. Everything looked like it was taken right out of his vision of eight years ago.

"We lived here?" asked Eli.

Ezra nodded, walking to the center of the room.

"Our parents used to record broadcasts against the Empire."

The padawan carefully moved something aside, leading to the hidden broadcasting room below.

" _Used_ to."

Junjie flashed a look at Eli. The Shane pressed his lips together.

 _Not yet._

Once everyone was safely down the ladder, Sabine plugged something into what looked like a big projector.

A hologram of an Imperial flashed and flickered to life.

"Beloved citizens of Lothal," The Imperial droned.

"Minister Tua's life was cut short by this criminal band of rebels."

The picture instantly switched to an image of the Ghost crew.

"If you see them, summon Imperial authorities immediately."

Quicky, Hera shut off the broadcast and sighed.

"They did this to turn Lothal against us," She muttered.

"What happened with this Minister Tua?" Eli asked.

Sabine brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, crossing her arms.

"We didn't kill her, if that's what you're asking."

"Minister Tua came to us, saying that she wanted a ride off of Lothal," Ezra explained.

"Instead, the Imperials showed and blew up the shuttle she was boarding."

Hera pressed a hand to her forehead.

"We can't do any more here. We have to leave. For good."

"We can't just run!" Ezra said, clutching his helmet.

"The people have to know the truth!"

"I second that," said Eli.

"I don't think the Empire's giving us much choice," Sabine sighed, standing up.

The silence that hung in the air didn't last long.

Chopper was beeping and shouting about something upstairs.

"What's going on?" Trixie shouted.

"We're in trouble!" Ezra said, poking his head above the ladder.

In seconds, several Stormtroopers bursted through the door.

A loud blast followed by a surge of heat filled the air.

Eli's heart sank a little as he kneeled beside his brother.

"If they know about this hideout, they'll know about our others," muttered Ezra quietly.

"Then there's no more hiding," Hera said.

"We need a ship."

Sabine pulled up a holographic map of Capital city.

"Everything's locked down," said the Mandolorian.

Zeb growled.

"The Empire's looking everywhere for us," muttered the lasat.

Kanan leaned forward.

"Not everywhere," The jedi pointed towards the center of the map.

"The Imperial complex?" Hissed Hera.

"Are you crazy?"

"Does anyone actually say yes to that?"

"He's got a point," Sabine mused.

"Stormtroopers are spread out all over the city... it might just work."

Eli shrugged.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Ezra glanced over at his brother.

"But you guys need to find a way back to Slugterra, don't you?"

The members of the Shane gang exchanged looks.

"You guys have a bigger problem than us," Trixie said, ducking out of view from a walker.

"I think that speaks for us all."

With Zeb leading the way, the whole crew carefully took turns crossing over a large gap between buildings.

Eli and Ezra both looked down at the burning house.

"Guess there is no going home," said Ezra grimly.

Eli looked into the smoking flames, with Burpy on his shoulder.

"I guess so," Eli muttered to his Infurnus, who sadly lowered his head.


	7. Revelations

**Hey! Just wanted to say how happy I am about writing this fanfic! It's been awesome so far!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Ugh, this suit reeks!" Eli said under his breath.

Ezra rolled his eyes, not looking over at his twin.

"Just stick to the plan," He muttered.

The two twins strode side by side, each pushing a load of crates. Kanan walked beside them in full trooper armor.

"What's this?" A gruff-sounding Stormtrooper asked as they approached a gate.

"Power cells needed for charging the rebel pursuit," Kanan replied, motioning his hand over the crates.

Eli and Ezra started to push past the Stormtrooper guard.

"Hold it right there, cadets," The trooper growled, blocking the entrance with his arm.

"We need to check inside."

 _That's not good,_ Eli thought, glancing over at Ezra.

"I got this," Ezra said smugly.

The padawan slowly raised his hand in front of the Stormtrooper's helmet.

"No," He said calmly.

"You _don't_ need to check inside."

The soldier stood bewildered for a moment before roughly grabbing Ezra by the arm.

"Did you just try to give _me_ an order, cadet?" The trooper sent Ezra stumbling backwards beside his brother.

Kanan quickly jumped in front of the trooper and held him back.

"No," He said, raising his hand.

"He just said, 'You _don't_ have to check inside."

The stormtrooper immediately relaxed, as if in a trance.

"... I _don't_ have to check inside," The stormtrooper echoed in a monotoned voice.

Kanan stood up straight.

"Well then," He said, holding up his hand in a salute.

"As you wish. Cadets, let's move. Hurry it up!"

The twins nodded in unison, pushing their crates past the guard and into the building.

"I wish that worked for me," Ezra grumbled.

"I wish it worked _on_ you," Kanan said.

Eli held back a snort.

"I know you're laughing," said Ezra, pushing ahead.

The trio steadily moved around a corner, moving unseen into what Eli guessed was some sort of storage room.

Eli looked around, and then knocked on the crates.

"You guys can come out now," He said quietly.

In an instant, the lids flew off of one of the crates. Hera and Sabine both popped up from inside.

"That... was... _awful_." Trixie stretched from her crate and cracked her neck.

Zeb abruptly shot out of his crate, gasping loudly for air.

"Zeb, would you be quiet?" Hera said sternly.

"What?" The lasat rasped between breaths.

"I need to breathe. Have you _smelled_ me?!"

Sabine poked her head outside the door.

"Don't think it matters if you're noisy. There's nobody around!"

Eli nodded, tugging Kord loose from the now-dented crate.

"This is a pretty good plan."

"Course it was a good plan!" Kanan grinned.

Ezra waved everyone over.

"This way!"

Following Ezra's lead, the Ghost crew and the Shane gang ran out onto a wide landing platform.

"Geez," Eli said, looking around.

"The Empire really has a thing for TIE fighters, huh?"

Zeb chuckled.

"Kid, you've got no idea!"

Kanan peered around a corner, looking around.

"There's a shuttle," The jedi pointed at a large ship.

"What'd I tell ya?"

The group sprinted towards the shuttle, when Sabine gasped.

"Hera!" She whispered.

The twi'lek stopped in her tracks and whirled around.

"What is it?" Trixie asked.

"Shield generators!" Hera beamed.

"Military grade," Sabine nodded, carrying one.

"Grab only what you can carry," Hera said, pushing a generator as quickly as she could.

"The fleet could sure use them!"

Ezra nodded, bending down to pick one up.

"Fleet?" Eli raised an eyebrow.

Ezra sighed.

"I'll explain later," He said hurriedly.

"Come on, help me with this."

Everyone ran quickly and silently through the night, hoping that nobody was around.

So far, everything was going to plan.

All they had to do was board the shuttle and get away unnoticed, right?

Couldn't have been more wrong.

Kanan suddenly slid to a stop, wide eyed.

The twins stopped in place, too.

"Do you feel that?" Ezra asked.

Kanan nodded.

"The cold..."

Eli shivered at the sudden chill.

"I... I feel it too..." Junjie muttered.

Two dark, armored figures stood in the distance, each shrouded with clouds of darkness and hate. A loud, heavy breathing sound could be heard in the dark.

A red glow filled the night as they lit their lightsabers.

"Hera, go!" Kanan shouted, activating his saber.

"We'll cover you!"

The rest of the group quickly took cover, readying their weapons against the firing troopers.

Eli and Ezra looked at each other and nodded, lighting their sabers in unison.

"Kanan, look out!" Hera shouted.

The Jedi quickly ducked and clashed his saber with Vader's. The second dark-sider skillfully jumped over the twins' heads and touched down behind the twins.

"Eli!" Ezra yelled.

"Whoa!" Eli yelped, rolling out of the way before the blade struck the ground where he stood.

Scowling, the figure pulled his saber out of the ground and summoned something to his hand.

"... A slug tube?" Eli gasped.

The dark-sider loaded the slug tube into a modified blaster and fired.

The twins instinctively jumped out of the way. Eli looked horrified at what he saw.

"They have Ghouls?!" Ezra shouted.

"How?!"

Eli gulped.

"That's not just any ghoul," Eli said.

"That's Loki. Twist's slug!"

They looked up at the dark-sider again. There they were, the amber sith eyes below his helmet.

"Twist?!" Eli shouted.

The dark-sider stopped and cocked his head to the side for a moment.

"Who's Twist?" He said in a soulless voice.

The other sith glared at his apprentice, pinning the jedi to the ground.

Twist straightened up and raised his saber to slice Eli's head.

"Oh no you don't...!" Ezra gritted under his breath, jumping between the two and clashing sabers with Twist.

They struggled for control as the sabers were tested to the limit.

"Twist... stop this... !" Ezra grunted.

Twist growled.

"Stop calling me that!"

Ezra exhaled deeply.

Using all of his strength, he shoved Twist as far away as he could.

The sith huffed his disapproval.

With a wave of his arm, the twins were sent flying off of their feet onto the ground.

Kanan widened his eyes and ran at the sith, lightsaber outstretched.

The sith lord blocked and dodged the saber, before grabbing the Jedi by the arms and throwing him against a wall.

Eli and Ezra gasped.

"Kanan!" Eli shouted.

Ezra angrily ran full speed towards the sith, lightsaber raised high above his head.

Vader lifted an arm, violently slamming Ezra against another metal wall.

Eli felt another wave of the Force pin his body to the ground.

"Twist!" Eli grunted, struggling to move his limbs.

The dark-sider slowly began to walk towards the Shane, lightsaber in hand.

"Your master has deceived you," Vader's voice droned through the night.

"If you believe you can become a Jedi."

Eli looked out of the corner of his eye.

Ezra's arm was slowly lifting his own lightsaber against his own throat. The padawan's eyes were wild and afraid.

"No!" Eli shouted, struggling to free himself from the Force's grip.

From his cover, Junjie bit his lip and exhaled.

Everyone froze to the sound of a lightsaber activating.

" _Junjie?!_ " Eli gasped in surprise.


	8. Slugtroopers?

**Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha! You guys didn't expect** ** _that,_** **now did ya?! You did? Well...**

 **See bottom for some brief crediting!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Junjie stood tall, lightsaber in hand. His form was clam and relaxed, completely comfortable in his situation.

Astonishment fell upon both the Ghost crew and the Shane gang.

"Another padawan," growled Twist.

Eli instantly felt the Force lift off of his chest and struggled to sit up, coughing and breathing heavily.

Junjie shot a worried look towards the Shane before raising his saber to attack.

Twist lunged towards Junjie and struck his lightsaber with such force that his helmet came flying off.

His amber sith eyes gleamed in the night.

Junjie gritted his teeth, mustering as much strength as he could to keep Twist from overpowering him.

Twist pushed his opponent away, signaling the soldiers behind them.

A group of soldiers in clone armor marched to the front, loading identical guns.

"No," Eli muttered softly.

"He didn't..."

The clone troopers raised their weapons and fired.

"Ghouls!" Kord shouted, firing at the oncoming slugs.

Sabine tried her best to shoot only soldiers, but wound up hitting several ghouls instead.

"They're clone troopers!" Sabine shouted.

"Twist must've given them slug DNA!"

Junjie grunted as they clashed sabers once more.

"You were once a boy of Slugterra," He said.

"Do you remember nothing?!"

Twist shook his head, almost as if wounded.

"Shut up!" He roared, running in for another attack.

Ezra held his breath as his lightsaber grew closer and closer to his neck. He could almost feel the burning sensation against his throat, his heart beating a mile a minute.

The sith suddenly whirled around and blocked Kanan's saber as it swung down from behind.

The young padawan fell to the ground, ripping his lightsaber away from his neck.

"Ezra!"

Eli was at his brother's side in a flash.

"Kanan!" Ezra gasped between breaths.

The Jedi came at the sith again and again, each blow blocked by the sith's lightsaber. The sith finally delivered a blow to Kanan's shoulder, making a slash on his armor.

Sabine flipped a bomb in her hands.

"Here," Sabine handed one to Trixie, who raised an eyebrow.

"Throw 'em at the walkers!" Sabine said, chucking one over the heads of some Stormtroopers, who immediately ran for cover.

Trixie grinned, throwing her's as well.

The explosion thundered above the battlefield as the walker caught ablaze, slowly beginning to topple forward.

"Now!" Kanan shouted.

In a perfect motion, Kanan and Ezra both Force pushed the sith as the walker collapsed, with him trapped underneath.

The twins were left stunned. Eli gulped. Had he just... witnessed death?

"We should go," muttered Junjie quietly.

Nodding, the group began to walk towards the shuttle.

And then the walker began to groan.

Kanan slowly turned around as the sith levitated the walker above his head, tossing it behind him like a can.

"If that doesn't kill him, what will?!" Ezra said, panicked.

Eli swallowed uncomfortably at his brother's words.

"Not us," Kanan said grimly, pushing the boys towards the shuttle.

"Run!"

The rest of the crew quickly ran up the ramp and onboard the shuttle as fast as they could.

"The shuttle's lifting off," Junjie said, running a little faster.

Sabine quickly fired at the two dark-siders, only to be hit in the head with her own blast.

The mandolorian collapsed to the floor, clutching at her helmet.

Eli, Ezra, Kanan, and Junjie lept upward, grabbing hold of the ramp.

"Come on!" Ezra shouted, pulling his master to safety.

As the shuttle began to take off, Twist suddenly leapt up, wedging an arm onto the ramp.

"Oh, no you don't!" Trixie hissed.

With one loud _crack,_ Trixie reared back and punched Twist in the nose.

The dark-sider could be seen falling back to the ground as the ramp closed shut.

"What?" Trixie said as everyone looked at her.

Hera sighed.

"Zeb, make sure they can't track us," She sighed.

Zeb nodded, walking out of the room.

As Hera tended to Sabine, Ezra sighed and turned towards Kanan, who was clutching his own shoulder.

"Kanan," Ezra panted, out of breath.

"What _was_ that?! Another Inquisitor?"

"No," Kanan said, lost in thought.

"Something... worse."

Eli let Doc heal Kanan's shoulder and sat down.

"What do you mean by worse?" He asked.

"A sith lord," Kanan sighed, letting Doc hop back onto Eli's shoulder.

"The ancient enemy of the Jedi."

"H- How do we fight him?" Ezra said, in a slightly hushed voice.

Kanan hardened his gaze.

"Fight him?" He said, the edges of his lips turning downward.

"Ezra, we're lucky to survive."

Eli scratched his neck.

"They had Ghouls with them," He muttered.

"And Twist."

Sabine loaded a holographic image of the clone troopers.

"They're starting up a new clone production," She said.

"Slugtroopers. These ones were the first of their kind."

Junjie sighed.

"They shouldn't be doing this. Not to slugs."

Eli looked over at Junjie with a solid expression.

"You were Force sensitive this whole time?" Asked the Shane.

Junjie shifted uncomfortably.

"If that's what you'd call it," He said, finally.

Kanan looked the boy in the eye before shaking his head.

"This doesn't change the fact that the Empire's sent a sith lord on our trail."

Hera stood up.

"Then that settles it," said the pilot.

"I'm going to make for orbit so we can jump away. Maybe then,"

She glanced over at the Shane gang.

"We can figure out a way to get you guys back to your planet."

Kanan shook his head.

"He will have a blockade of Destroyers waiting for us," He said sternly.

"And this shuttle is slow, with barely any weapons or shields," Sabine said from the top of a ladder.

"We're gonna have to smuggle ourselves off of Lothal for a change."

Hera's expression changed, deep in thought.

"That's not a bad idea..." She said.

Kanan looked up.

"What're you thinking?" He asked.

Hera turned towards the Jedi.

"I'm _thinking_ that we might know the right man to smuggle us off-world..."

Looks of annoyance and disgust fell upon both Kanan and Ezra.

"Not him." They both said at once.

Eli and Burpy both looked at each other and shrugged.

* * *

"Still don't see why _I_ don't get to go to space," Pronto muttered, crossing his arms.

Another pie flew through the air, hitting another random passerby in the face.

"Seriously, it's not like she has a reason for keeping me here..." The molenoid continued.

Another random person's shirt caught on fire, sending him running in circles crying for help.

Pronto sighed and stretched out his legs, accidentally tripping a man in a black ski mask.

"Sorry!" Pronto quickly bent down and grabbed a large, heavy sack.

"Here's your gold you dropped, sir."

The masked man looked confused for a second before grabbing the sack and running off.

Seconds later, a hoard of policemen came running after the masked man.

"Seriously, I see _absolutely_ no reason why she shouldn't put me in space."

Pronto pouted as a random mecha exploded behind him, sending more sparks and flames flying through the cavern.

"Could you keep it down over there?!" Pronto yelled behind him, taking a sip of his soda.

"Rude."

* * *

 **Hey! So, basically Junjie is a Jedi now.**

 **Junjie Jedi. Try saying _that_ ten times fast.**

 **Also, I'd like to thank TheGreatGodzilla for suggesting the idea of Slugtroopers! XD**

 **Despite whatever Pronto says, there _is_ a valid reason for me leaving him behind. ****Read that section again and you might see where that's _very_ _subtly_ emphasized with the mild chaos.**


	9. War

**Hey! Hope you guys are having a great week!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Wait, so who's _him?_ " Eli asked, sitting down next to Ezra.

Everyone was sitting silently on the shuttle as Kanan and Hera contacted someone in the other room.

Ezra didn't say anything, only pressing his lips together.

"Let's just say that Zeb got into a little gambling trouble," Sabine said, directing her gaze at the lasat.

"He's a little cheat, he is," Zeb grumbled.

Chopper rolled beside the lasat and zapped him, beeping and waving his arms around.

"It wasn't my fault!" Zeb growled angrily, taking a swipe at the droid.

Eli blinked and shook his head.

"Mind telling us about your Jedi friend here?" Sabine jerked her head towards Junjie, who shifted uncomfortably.

"My teacher never spoke of such Jedi," Junjie said quietly.

"We never really talked much about the purpose of my training at all, only that I was to protect my home caverns."

"Who was your teacher?" Asked Ezra, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Junjie swallowed again, his eyes flitting to the ground.

"You... don't know?"

Junjie sighed again.

"There's a lot I don't know," He said.

"I always felt that something was being kept from me. Even the moment I was handed this,"

Junjie held up his lightsaber, cleverly hidden within his armor.

"I had my doubts about my teachings."

Ezra thought for a moment.

"There _were_ Jedi in Slugterra..." He muttered, in thought.

"What're you thinking?" Asked Eli, sitting up.

Ezra opened his mouth to say something, only to be silenced by the whirr of the shuttle's engines.

"We're going to meet Lando's droid somewhere on Lothal," Hera's voice sounded throughout the shuttle.

Ezra sighed, dismissing his thoughts.

* * *

"You must be Lando's droid," Hera said as the shuttle touched down on Lothal.

The droid nodded.

"Yes ma'am," The droid raised his arm as the crew approached.

"Welcome. I have prepared everything according to Calrissian's instructions. Is one of you a mechanic?"

"Two," Hera said, motioning over to Sabine and Kord, who tried his best to avoid the sunlight.

Chopper beeped and grumbled, waving his mechanical arms angrily.

"Definitely not you," Sabine said to Chopper as she followed Lando's droid.

Everyone walked calmly along with the droid, until Ezra stopped in his tracks.

"Eli," He breathed quietly.

Eli glanced up towards the sky.

"Smoke..." Eli muttered, his eyes widening in shock.

"Come on!" Without skipping a beat, the twins both hopped onto nearby speeders and sped off towards burning Tarkin Town.

Their hearts froze as they finally pulled to a stop.

"There's no one," Ezra breathed in shock.

"They just... burned the town?" Eli's mouth tasted bitter.

The people, the families...

That little blue-eyed boy he had met just hours ago.

"They're _all_ gone," Ezra said, with a tinge of sadness in his tone.

Eli and Ezra heard a speeder pull up behind them.

"They're prisoners of the Empire now," Kanan said softly.

Ezra shook his head.

"Why would they burn the town, just like that?!" Eli nearly yelled.

Kanan walked up beside the twins as they all looked apron the burning town.

"To spread fear," He said.

"The people that lived here... just got caught in the middle."

Ezra's eyes shimmered for a moment.

"This happened... because of us?" He asked softly.

Kanan sighed.

"Back when I was your age, there were ten thousand Jedi Knights protecting the galaxy. Now..."

"It's only us." Ezra sighed.

Eli looked down.

This was a war they were fighting.

This thought burned against his mind as they drove back, one that he couldn't shake.

"I can hear your thoughts, Eli." Ezra muttered quietly as they rode.

Eli swallowed and stayed silent.

"What happened out there?" Hera asked quietly as the three pulled to a stop.

Kanan stepped off his speeder.

"The Empire burned Tarkin Town," He said grimly.

"What?!" The Shane gang all sprang to their feet, momentarily forgetting their fear of the sun.

"Did anyone survive?" Sabine asked.

Ezra slid off of his speeder.

"The entire population's been taken captive," said the padawan.

"Everyone's gone," muttered Eli.

Zeb cracked his knuckles.

"Let's go bust 'em out," He growled.

Kanan held the lasat down.

"He'd be waiting." Kanan said.

"We have no choice. We have to leave."

"So you guys are just gonna leave?!" Trixie yelled.

"Trixie," Kord warned, holding her back with an arm.

Hera sighed.

"For the good of Lothal," said the pilot.

Ezra quickly turned away from his brother's gaze.

"So... what's the plan on getting out of here?" Ezra asked quietly.

* * *

"You guys sure this'll work?" Eli asked,

Zeb pushed the transponder off of the shuttle's ramp, letting it float aimlessly in the sky as they flew.

"It should," Kord said.

"It better." Sabine grinned, pushing out another.

Once everything was in place, the ramp closed.

"We should be ready to move off-world, Hera!" Sabine shouted.

"Wait," Eli stood up straighter.

"By off-world... you guys actually mean-?"

"Yep." Ezra cracked a brief smile.

The shuttle began to move faster and faster, until the colors of hyperspace surrounded the ship.

"We made it," Eli breathed.

"We're... in space?"

Ezra nodded.

"What's... space?" Junjie asked, scratching his head.

The members of the Ghost crew looked at each other.

"You'll see," said Hera, preparing to exit the ship.

Everyone slowly entered the narrow hallway of the Phoenix.

A very small feeling of awesome would be short lived.

Chopper came bursting through the door behind them, beeping and whirring in panic.

"Chopper said that a transmitter activated on our shuttle, moments ago!" Sabine said, running down the hall as fast as she could.

"What's that mean?!" Eli's eyes widened.

"It means the Empire tracked us back to the fleet!" Kanan shouted, running after Sabine and Hera.

Eli and Ezra worriedly glanced at each other and went after the crew.

"Commander Sato!" Hera shouted, barreling into the room.

The Shane gang came in next, looking around wildly.

Commander Sato looked taken aback for a brief moment at the foreigners.

"We need the fleet to jump out of here," Hera continued.

"Our shuttle was tracked!"

Before the commander could respond, a man spoke up from his control panel.

"Commander," he said urgently.

"I'm scanning a ship entering our sector."

A holomap flickered on, a red blip moving across the screen.

"We're tracking one target," The man continued.

"No other ships have entered the system."

The commander straightened up.

"Move Phoenix Squadron to intersect!" He ordered, hardening his tone.

Eli pursed his lips.

He didn't like the idea of fighting in a war.

"Wait." The armored man pressed another button.

Another blip showed up on the screen, moving alongside the first.

"Commander, we're detecting another ship, moving in faster than the other!"

"We've lost Phoenix One and Two!" A voice reported.

Ezra pointed out one of the blips moving towards the command ship.

"He's making right for us!" Said Ezra, eyes widening.

The whole room suddenly rumbled, nearly knocking everyone off their feet.

"What's happening?!" Junjie shouted.

"We're under attack, genius!" Sabine shouted back.

The commander shook his head as the room shook again.

"How can two fighters best our entire squadron?!" He muttered, tightening his fists.

"Your pilots are outmatched, commander." Hera took off towards the door.

"What are you doing?!" Kanan yelled after the pilot.

Hera turned around.

"Getting involved," She replied, before running off.

Kanan sighed and shook his head.

"Not without me, you're not!" Yelled the Jedi, taking off.

Sabine nodded.

"Let's go!"

Eli glanced over at Ezra, and then at his gang.

"Guys?"

The Shane gang nodded.

"You need some help?"

Ezra turned around and grinned.

"Definitely."

The room rumbled again, and the twins swore they felt an icy chill on their necks.


	10. Captured

**Oooooh! Action! *grabs popcorn***

 **So exciting! ... such wow.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Everything was a rush from then as the crew automatically took their positions on the ship.

"You sure you guys'll be okay up here?" Eli nodded his head towards his gang, seated within the cockpit.

Junjie's eyes widened as he saw a TIE speed by, firing at the fleet.

"No promises," Junjie said numbly.

Ahsoka looked back at the foreigners, a confused expression on her face.

"Ahsoka, this is the Shane gang," Hera quickly explained.

"Ezra's brother is their leader."

Eli waved, despite the gravity of the situation.

The ship began to rumble and lift off.

"Ghost moving to engage!" Hera shouted.

The ship took off and began to fly, taking the Shane gang by surprise.

Both TIE fighters flew about the fleet, swiftly evading each shot fired towards them.

"Everything floats in space?" Trixie pointed out the nearby stars and ships as they flew.

"Yes," Ahsoka said slowly.

"Give 'em a break, Ahsoka," Kanan grinned with some amusement.

"It's their first time off-world."

One of the TIEs swooped down in full view of the Ghost before disappearing to gunfire.

"They're strong with the Force," The Togruta mused.

"Let's find out how strong."

Kanan nodded in agreement.

As the two Jedi held up their arms and reached out with the Force, Eli felt a familiar presence in the air.

"Something's gonna happen..." Eli muttered, shivering at the sudden chill.

Ezra's voice sounded over the com.

"I think I know who they are!"

The ship rumbled at one of the enemy ship's attacks.

"It's that sith lord we faced!" Ezra shouted.

"And he's got Twist with him, too!"

Ahsoka's cry felt like it could be heard throughout the entire galaxy.

"Ahsoka?!" Eli shook the Jedi on the floor. It was no use.

Something suddenly clicked in Eli's mind, his expression going blank.

"Eli?"

Junjie worriedly glanced over at the Shane.

"Are you alright?"

Eli absentmindedly pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Ezra?" He muttered quietly.

Suddenly, the whole ship swayed to the side, sending most of the crew into panic.

"Ghost crew, you've got a breach!" A voice shouted over the com.

A surge of fear overcame Eli's control.

"Hey-!"

Without warning, Eli burst out the door and down the hall.

* * *

Eli skid to a stop, shaking his head.

"Wait."

Eli looked around at his surroundings.

"Why am I at the back of the Ghost?"

Eli stood in brief thought.

"And why was I running?"

Burpy chirped and shrugged his tiny arms.

"You don't know either, buddy?" Eli rubbed his forehead.

"Why can't I remember..."

* * *

"We've been breached?!" Zeb shouted over the com.

"One of the enemy ships has attached to the Ghost," Hera muttered.

"We can't jump with him onboard with us!"

Ezra looked down at his cannon controls, the energy used for the hyperdrive.

"Can't fire anyway," He said to himself.

Ezra pressed a button.

"Let the fleet jump ahead," said Ezra.

"I'm gonna go check out the breach."

Kanan could be heard sighing.

"I'm right behind you," said the Jedi before the com switched off.

Ezra ran as fast as he could through the Ghost, making his way down the the airlock.

"Gah!" Ezra yelped as he ran full force into Eli.

"Sorry," Eli apologized.

Ezra exhaled slowly, tired from running.

"Kanan'll be here in a sec,"

Ezra pushed at a couple buttons, frowning when the airlock didn't open up.

"Jammed from the other side, probably," Eli crossed his arms.

"We should probably wait for your master to get back."

"Yeah, we-" Ezra stopped.

"What'd you say?"

Eli shrugged.

"Just said we should wait for... Kanan."

Ezra stood up and looked closer at his brother. He sensed darkness in his twin.

A chill graced Ezra's skin.

"You're not Eli," Ezra stepped away from what looked like Eli.

"You might be wearing his face, but you're not him."

The intruder grinned.

"Nope."

Ezra watched as Eli drew his blaster.

"Drop it." He hissed.

Ezra reluctantly did as he was told.

"Had me fooled for a minute," Ezra said bitterly.

The false Eli smirked.

"It was easy, getting your brother over here."

Ezra blinked, and the disguise quickly melted away.

In Eli's place stood Twist, with Loki perched on his shoulder.

"Hard part was knocking him out, especially since he wouldn't stop moving around."

" _He_?" Ezra scoffed.

"You can't even remember Eli's name, Twist?"

The dark-sider flinched at the sound of his own name.

The two slowly began circling each other, like two predators over prey.

"What was your plan, huh? Stow away until you found out where the fleet was going?"

Twist stopped his circling.

"Don't need to," said Twist.

"You'll be back for _Eli,_ anyway."

Ezra clenched his fists in anger.

"Ezra, we need to jump the Ghost!" Hera's voice rang through the ship.

"What's the word on that breach?!"

Twist looked up at the voice and grinned.

"Great timing."

Twist plugged something into the control panel, letting the airlock hiss open.

"I was just leaving, anyway."

Ezra's heart dropped to the ground.

" _Eli!_ "

Eli lay slumped over, unconscious in the back of the starfighter. There was little color in his skin, and all of his slugs were missing.

"Enemy ship is detaching," Hera shouted over the com.

"Entering hyperspace!"

Ezra grabbed his saber from the ground and ran at Twist, only to be thrown against the wall by a Ghoul.

Twist smirked, holstering his blaster.

"See ya."

The airlock slammed shut, separating Ezra from his brother.

Ezra threw himself against the door.

" _No!_ "

He didn't feel the pain of his fists banging against the door, or look up at the swirling hues of hyperspace. He didn't feel his knees buckle beneath him. He didn't hear Kanan's voice yelling his name.

All that mattered was that Eli was gone, captured.

And it was all his fault.


	11. Risky Business

**Hey! It's been a pretty long week, hasn't it?**

 **Really love the support you guys give! Helps a lot when I'm writing!**

 **Lol, kittens and puppies.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Please Commander, our crew has to go and rescue Eli!"

Hera's words could be heard as she spoke to Commander Sato in the room next door.

Ezra blocked out the world in his head as he sat in meditation, trying to reach out to his twin.

"Ezra."

The padawan opened his eyes.

"Yeah?"

Kanan sighed, leaning against the wall.

"The fleet doesn't want us too... but we're going to search for Eli."

Ezra looked up at his master.

"They can't interrogate him," said Ezra, his voice breaking with dryness.

"He doesn't know anything about the fleet. They'll be torturing him for nothing."

Kanan shook his head.

"I think the Empire already knows that," said he.

"I think their main goal is turning the last of the Jedi towards the Dark Side."

Trixie shook her head.

"He wouldn't," The girl said, her lips curling downwards.

"Yeah, he's better than that," Kord rubbed his neck with uncertainty.

"You could accidentally push him into lava and he probably wouldn't be mad."

Ezra quickly changed the subject.

"Any leads, Sabine?"

Sabine pulled up an image of several Destroyers.

"Twist probably took him back to one of the Destroyers that was after us," She said, running a hand through her colorful hair.

"That way, there'd be less risk of Eli waking up on the ride."

Trixie suddenly gasped.

"Burpy?!"

Everyone quickly got to their feet.

One by one, Eli's slugs all started popping up out of nowhere.

Ezra's slugs immediately popped up and jumped onto the ground, giving tiny bro hugs to each other.

"Wait," Junjie muttered, scanning the ground with his eyes.

When he didn't find what he was looking for, he hardened his expression.

"The Elementals!" He gasped, turning pale.

"They're gone!"

Ezra stood up angrily.

"I swear, when I get my hand on Twist-!"

Kanan sat Ezra back down.

"Becoming angry isn't gonna get your brother back, Ezra," The Jedi said sternly.

The silence hung in the air for a moment.

"You're right."

Ezra sighed and shook his head, trying to loosen his thoughts.

"I'm just trying to figure out why Eli ran down there in the first place," Kanan thought for a moment.

Ezra gazed out the window of the cockpit.

"And I'm just praying that Eli can hold out," Ezra muttered.

* * *

Was he dead?

He wouldn't be surprised- he probably would've been killed eventually, considering his role as the protector of Slugterra.

He was dead, wasn't he?

Shame if he was, there was still a lot more he wanted to do.

No, he wasn't.

There was too much pain in his body for that.

Wait, what?

Eli snapped his eyes open.

"Oww..." Eli groaned, lifting a hand to his forehead.

"What the..."

Eli pulled his arms again. His hands were bound in heavy metal restraints.

"Great," Eli muttered.

"Only cause you can't be trusted just yet," A voice said from the dark.

"Not until you've been broken, at least."

Eli sighed, letting his hands fall.

"Twist." He didn't bother to mask the tinge of anger in his voice.

The dark-sider shifted at the sound of his name.

"Little disappointed," Twist crossed his arms, leaning up against the wall.

"I expected you to put up more of a fight, back there on your ship."

Eli immediately tried to push back Twist through the Force, only to be blocked away.

"You really think we'd let you use the Force while you're still in the light?" Twist sneered.

Barely lifting a finger, Twist sent a wave of the Force at Eli.

The Shane's eyes widened as he nearly keeled over, clutching his head with his hands.

Nausea and pain blurred his mind as Eli tried not to cry out in agony.

Twist only grinned wickedly.

"I'm really tempted to end this right here," He said smugly, twirling his modified lightsaber blaster in his hands.

Eli eyed the weapon in his hands.

"Let me guess," Eli glared up at his captor.

"Orders from your all powerful master?"

Twist's grin shrank ever so slightly.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you," The dark sider scowled, holding up a cage.

Eli held down a gasp.

The Elementals were huddled together within the cage.

All Eli did was stare at the cage, willing for the slugs to be free.

Twist took note of this, his grin vanishing completely.

"Never seen these slugs before," He continued.

"Must be pretty important."

Eli bit down his tongue as he carefully chose his words.

"You're going to Ghoul them?" He asked, hating the worry in his voice.

Twist stood in thought for a moment.

"No," He said, a certain gleam to his amber eyes.

Eli took a very brief moment of relief to himself.

With a flick of the wrist, Twist ignited his lightsaber, pointing it towards Eli's throat.

"Not unless you do what you're told."

Eli gulped.

Knowing the power that Twist had, every slug in Slugterra would be Ghouled within seconds.

Course, Twist didn't know how important the Elementals were.

"From the little I remember, you always tried to play hero," Twist sneered once more.

"Risking your life for something like a couple of slugs. Nearly _died_ for the sake of your Infurnus."

Twist menacingly moved the saber closer towards Eli, forcing him to lean away.

The saber's red glare gave the cell a suffocating air.

Eli tried to stand his ground.

Twist scowled some more.

"When we land, you'd better be ready to get your little crew to follow."

Eli glared up at the dark-sider.

"Now why would I do that?" Eli said through clenched teeth.

Twist held up the Elementals.

"These look pretty powerful," Twist mused.

"I could hand them over to the clone troopers for... experimentation."

Eli tightened his fists until his hands felt numb.

"What kind of slug-slinger are you, treating slugs like this?" Eli rasped, realizing how little he'd been breathing.

Twist suddenly sat straighter up.

"Now I remember something," muttered Twist, lowering his saber slightly.

Twist stepped forward and looked closer at his prisoner.

"... Shane. Eli Shane, that was your name, wasn't it?"

Eli held his breath.

Twist stood there for a moment, before angrily slashing at Eli's arm with his saber.

The Shane cried out in pain, slumping against the wall of the cell.

"That was for my father," Twist spat, grabbing the caged Elementals.

Eli waited until Twist's footsteps faded away before sinking down to the floor of his cell, ignoring the pain of his bleeding arm.

"Day One."


	12. The Execution

**Some of you probably peed your pants when you saw the title XD**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _Ezra was kneeling down besides his unconscious brother, who still lay in his cell._

 _"Eli..." Ezra was muttering, shaking him with his hands._

 _"Eli, not now... please..."_

 _"You have no choice," A dark, unfamiliar voice was saying._

 _Ezra swallowed, trying to shake off a dozen other thoughts in his head._

 _He looked one last time at his twin._

 _Eli's breath shuddered, turning into a grave wheezing like wind in the trees._

 _"Do it," Ezra said in defeat, shutting his eyes and looking away._

 _A sinister chuckle was the last thing he heard._

 _"Good boy."_

* * *

Ezra snapped awake, gasping for air.

"Ezra?" Junjie abruptly sat up from his seat.

Trixie and Kord soon burst into the room.

"Eli... what did I do..." Ezra breathed over and over, burying his head in his hands.

"What happened?" Trixie asked.

Ezra coughed, choking on his own breath.

"I... I saw something..." Ezra said between hacks.

Junjie thought for a moment.

"My master said something about these... you had a vision?"

Ezra nodded slowly.

"Something happening to Eli... I was there..."

Ezra groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"I can't remember most of it, but I _know_ it was important."

Trixie crossed her arms and sighed.

"Try to remember something... anything to help us figure out where they're keeping Eli."

Ezra went over what he could remember.

"I heard someone talking..." He said slowly.

"Someone called the... Goon?"

The Shane gang looked as though they were shot.

"The Goon?!" Junjie clenched his fists.

"Here?!"

Ezra worriedly stood up.

"Why, who is he?"

Kord hesitated.

"He's a ghouled Boon Doc," He said.

Ezra pursed his lips.

"So?"

Junjie grabbed Ezra by the shoulder.

"Ezra, you don't understand," He said, almost angrily.

"The Goon is more dangerous than you can think."

Ezra brushed off Junjie's hand.

"So what's he do?" He asked softly.

Trixie sighed.

"He can ghoul _people_ , Ezra. And control them against their will."

Junjie turned towards Ezra.

"Was there anything else that you saw?"

Ezra bit his lip, his gaze drifting towards the ground.

His vision... he'd _let_ the Goon ghoul Eli?

"No," He said.

"That's it."

Junjie stayed silent for a moment.

"Alright," He said slowly, turning away.

"We need to tell the others."

Kord and Trixie both nodded, walking away.

Ezra watched and listened for their footsteps before turning his attention to Junjie.

"You didn't tell us everything, did you?" Junjie said quietly.

Ezra felt a pang of guilt wash over him.

"I'm... just hoping I've got it wrong..." stammered the padawan.

It wasn't a lie.

Junjie held his gaze of stone, remaining silent.

"It's happened before," Junjie said at last.

Ezra looked up at Junjie in surprise.

"What has?"

A faraway shadow fell over Junjie's face.

"The Ghouling," He muttered quietly.

"It's been done to me. Eli as well, once before."

Ezra stiffened. Part of him wanted to call Junjie a liar.

"What happened?" Asked Ezra.

Junjie tensed up.

"The Goon controlled us," He explained.

"Made me turn against and attack my home caverns."

Ezra sensed what happened next.

"Sorry I asked," Said Ezra.

Junjie sighed and shook his head.

"So what else happened in the vision?"

Before Ezra could respond, Hera barreled into the room as fast as she could.

"Ezra!" Said the pilot, rushing her words.

"There's an Imperial broadcast. About Eli!"

Ezra felt his stomach twist.

"Right behind you."

* * *

" _... The Empire regrets to say that the rebel insurgents have escaped Lothal._ "

The Imperial's voice droned through the Ghost.

Ezra sat closest to the projector, itching for more info on his brother.

" _But, we have been successful in the capture of one of their allies."_

Eli's face popped up on the holonet, shown being walked into his cell with an escort of Stormtroopers herding him.

"Eli," Trixie muttered.

"He doesn't look too good," Kord said quietly, leaning closer.

The Imperial continued.

" _This boy, known as Eli Shane, has been seen aiding the rebellion in terrorizing the public and stealing Imperial supplies._ "

"Liar," Zeb spat.

Chopper whirred about in agreement.

The Imperial quickly brushed something off his should before continuing.

" _By Imperial order, the boy shall sadly be_ _sentenced to death._ "

Several gasps sounded within the Ghost. Ezra covered his mouth with a hand.

"No," Junjie muttered.

" _The execution shall take place in a few days time, in order to show what the consequences of rebellion are. Here, the Empire leaves a friendly message for the Lothal rebels who chose to leave the planet._ "

The Ghost crew looked at each other, their expressions worrying.

A picture of Eli's face appeared once more.

" _I'm so sorry._ " The voice of the Shane shocked everyone in the room.

"What's he doing?!" Zeb crossed his arms.

" _The Empire's already told me about my... execution. I knew something like this would happen eventually, just not so soon..._ "

Kord narrowed his eyes.

"Something's not right..." He murmured.

Sabine sighed.

"Probably forced to say this," She said.

"Why else would they put it on here?"

" _They have the Elementals,_ " Eli's tone suddenly became rushed.

" _If I leave they'll be turned, and the Slugtroopers are planning on attacking you tonight-!_ "

The group recognized Twist's voice shouting at Eli to stay quiet before the broadcast stopped.

"He was trying to warn us," Kanan muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"Probably did what he was told just to risk his neck like that."

Sabine leaned up against the wall.

"Was the part about the Elementals necessary?" She asked to nobody in particular.

Junjie wasn't amused.

"The Elemental slugs are the ancestors of all the slugs in the caverns," He said sternly.

"If one is ghouled, the slug's descendants become ghouled as well!"

Trixie closed her eyes.

"He doesn't care if he makes it out alive," She muttered sadly.

"He just wants to get the Elementals out safely."

Ezra thought for a moment.

"The Empire doesn't know," He said at last.

"If they did, they'd have been ghouled a long time ago."

"So we can still rescue them," Junjie sighed.

"And Eli?"

Kanan and Hera both cast their gaze downwards.

"It's a shot in the dark," Hera said slowly.

"But it might be worth it." Ezra countered.

Sabine pulled up a small holomap.

"They've built new cloning facilities in the past few months on neighboring planets," She turned the thought over in her head.

"We might be able to put a stop to the Slugtrooper production if we're careful, and maybe get some more info on wherever Eli is."

Zeb scowled, shaking his head.

"They'll have bucketheads at every one of 'em after Eli's broadcast makes it's way round. Aren't they planning on attacking us, anyhow?"

"Unless... we bring the battle to them." Hera slowly broke into a grin.

Kanan raised an eyebrow.

"What're you thinking?" Asked the Jedi.

The twi'lek rubbed her chin in thought.

"Let's see how fast the Imperials can fly," said Hera.

The pilot turned on her heel and left for the cockpit, her smile never breaking.

* * *

"Dangit, mole!" A man yelled, throwing Pronto head-first out of the door, sending him crashing into the ground.

The molenoid quickly got to his feet, brushing himself off.

"Well how was _I_ supposed to know that anniversary flowers were flammable?!" Pronto huffed as he door slammed behind him.

Pronto stuck up his nose.

"People these days are just so rude."

The molenoid straightened up to the sound of footsteps behind him.

"AHHH!" Pronto inadvertently struck a ninja pose.

"Nice to see you too," Redhook grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Little Hoverbug told me that the Shane Gang's vanished into thin air."

Pronto laughed nervously.

"Soooo... what are you doing here?"

Redhook briefly closed his eyes.

"I had a vision," He grumbled quietly.


	13. Twin and Twin

**Hey! I'm just gonna say right now, I got a** ** _really_** **late start on writing this chapter. It's my first week of school, and I already think I've got arthritis. XD XD.**

 **Seriously, this took _way_ longer than I would've liked, and might be a little short, but I'm proud.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Would you just calm down?!" Redhook face palmed as Pronto sat in his stool, blubbering uncontrollably.

" _I AM CALM!"_ Pronto wheezed quite un-calmly.

Redhook scowled, rubbing his forehead.

"I didn't even tell you what-"

"They're in trouble aren't they?" Pronto started talking a mile a minute, jumping to his feet.

"They probably are! Pronto should've been up there with them!"

"I agree," mumbled Redhook tiredly.

With his metal claw, Redhook abruptly sat Pronto back down.

"Listen!" Redhook hissed.

"Both the last of the Jedi and all of Slugterra itself are in danger, and-"

Pronto gasped loudly.

"I knew it!" Yelled the mole, earning several shushes from everyone outside.

"Pronto needs to save the day!"

Redhook groaned, slamming his own head into the table.

"That's not the important part!" The blastersmith snapped, banging his one good arm against the table.

Pronto stayed silent this time.

Redhook sighed.

"Someone very important to me," He began.

"She's going to die." *****

* * *

 _Day Three._

Eli's eyes snapped open.

"Ugh..." He groaned, sitting up from his now-familiar little bench.

The boy cringed at the taste of salt in his mouth. His own blood.

He spat it right out.

His blood boiled as he heard his cell door slid open, the routine footsteps padding against the ground.

"Good, you're up," Twist's voice sneered.

"How's your arm doing?"

Eli subconsciously grabbed his injured arm.

"How's your nose?" Eli said right back with a grin.

Twist frowned, rubbing the area where Trixie had punched him.

"You tried to warn your rebel crew."

"They're still following. Never said how I did it."

Twist didn't appreciate Eli's new humor.

"Why don't I just Ghoul your slugs on the spot?" Twist growled.

Eli forced a chuckle, sending ebbs of pain up his side.

"You won't," He said, a little too confidently.

"Need something to keep me here, don't you?"

Twist stayed silent, curling up his fists.

"Your execution's real soon," The dark sider unleashed a wave of the Force, wrapping itself around Eli's throat.

Eli struggled for air, practically clawing at his neck as Twist spoke.

"Wish I'd be the one to cut you down to size."

Something beeped on Twist's arm.

Twist glared at Eli for a moment before letting him drop to the ground.

"Perfect timing," Twist said, grabbing Eli roughly by the arm.

"Let's go for a ride, Shane."

Eli bit down his cries of pain as he reluctantly followed.

 _Please find them,_ Eli thought, closing his eyes as he stepped onto a ship.

* * *

Ezra gasped quickly looking around.

"What?" He muttered, searching for something.

The padawan rubbed at his forehead.

"I swear I heard him..."

Hera quickly looked over her shoulder.

"You alright Ezra?"

The twi'lek sat herself beside the boy, placing a tender hand in his shoulder.

"I'm a little worried..." Ezra said under his breath, just enough for only Hera to hear.

"We all are," Hera sighed.

"But I can't even imagine what you're going through right now."

Ezra's gaze flittered to the ground.

"Are we at the clone facility yet?" He asked quickly.

Hera was caught off guard.

"Oh. Yes, we are."

The pilot got to her feet.

"So... what's the plan, anyway?"

"Sabine said that one of the ships that attacked the fleet landed at this facility. Chance's are, that ship belongs to Twist. If we can't find Eli, we can at least bring him down."

Ezra heard the door behind him open with a hiss.

"You called?" Ashoka's voice filled the room.

A smile crossed Hera's face.

"Yes," She replied.

Kanan soon walked into the room, shaking his head.

"This is crazy, Hera. Absolutely crazy."

Sabine poked her head into the room.

"Chopper agrees," She said, looking anxious.

Ezra was more confused than ever.

"So... what's the plan again?"

Everyone looked right at him and grinned.

* * *

Two stormtroopers stood outside the facility door, whistling the time away as the sun went down.

"Ever wonder where those _things_ come from?" One asked the other, referring to the slugs.

The other trooper shrugged.

"Just accept it and nod," He said, turning back to his post.

A silvery blur quickly blew the two soldiers off their feet, with another blow knocking both guards out.

"Great job, guys," Junjie quickly picked up his slugs, signaling for Zeb to carry them away.

Sabine huddled in the shadow of night, silencing her breathing.

Swift and agile like a cat, she nimbly grabbed the next patrolling guard and stuck a makeshift little tool into his armor, electrocuting him.

"Good to go, Spectre 2," She muttered.

"Copy that, Spectre 5," Hera's voice crackled in return.

Nothing happened in the next few seconds.

Junjie scratched at his head.

"Isn't there something that's supposed to...?"

Sabine held up her hand.

"Three... two... one..."

A deafening _BOOM_ rumbled through the ground, shuddering the building.

"It's him!" A gruff voice shouted.

"It's that prisoner kid!"

A group of troopers ran as fast as they could, only to find the boy at a dead-end wall.

"Hands in the air!" The lead Stormtrooper shouted, grabbing the boy by the shoulder.

"Wait..."

The trooper quickly studied the boy's face.

"This isn't the prisoner!"

Ezra falsely waved.

"Nope," He chuckled as a rain of bombs blew everyone away but himself.

"Idiots," Ezra muttered as he started to walk away.

A chirping sound caught his attention.

"Aliit?"

The Flaringo pointed at a small cage.

Ezra knelt down.

"The Elementals!" Ezra gasped.

"You're all here!"

The Elementals didn't seem so thrilled. In fact, they seemed exactly the opposite.

"What is it?" Ezra quickly whirled around, his heart jerking to a stop.

"Eli?"

He almost thought that his eyes deceived him again, and Twist was up to his tricks again.

But no, there he was, plain as day. He even felt the familiar healing power in his veins.

"Eli!" Ezra took a step forward.

Eli's eyes widened.

"Don't step any closer!" He shouted.

Ezra froze. Eli's tone was begging, almost a sob.

"Please," Eli begged again.

Ezra stepped backwards, looking his twin up and down.

Eli held a blaster in his hands.

A blaster with a ghoul inside.

* * *

 **Sorry for the shorter chapter!**

 *** No, the 'special person' Redhook says is going to die is not great-aunt Hilda, for those who remember the first fic. She's already long gone, anyway... You guys will have to read on to find out!**

 **Eli with a ghoul? *gasp* I wonder how I sleep at night!**


	14. Guess Who's Back?

**Honestly, I'm just really late on writing this and really freaking lazy...**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Ezra felt his legs glue to the ground, the Elementals in hand.

He knew this wasn't Twist, or any other kind of impostor that could possibly take his brother's place.

Eli was pretty much a wreck by now. There were bright red lines running up and down his arms. A dark bruise rested on his forehead, which had presumably knocked him out.

The Shane's hands were trembling, and from closer observation Ezra could see the heavy-looking metal gauntlets which forced him to keep his blaster in hand. Wires and little red sensors decorated his hands.

What really disturbed him was the metal collar around his neck.

"Hey," Eli rasped quietly.

Ezra could hear all the pain and defeat in his voice, with a certain sorrow emitting through the Force.

"What- what'd they do to you?" Ezra asked, still truing to comprehend what he was seeing.

Eli's eyes flitted downward.

"They didn't break me, if that's what you're thinking."

Ezra realized how little he'd been breathing and drew in a big breath.

"What's with the ghoul?"

Eli's expression hardened as he glared down at the ghoul in his blaster. Ezra swore that the ghoul had been glaring back.

"I'm going to be completely honest," Eli seemed to be biting off his words.

"They put me here to shoot you."

Ezra swallowed.

"Are you going to?"

Something in Eli's eyes said that he wouldn't dare.

"See this stuff they put on me?"

Eli nodded his head towards the contraption around his arms.

"This whole place was a setup. Rigged to explode if I don't shoot someone."

Eli held up the blaster for Ezra to see.

"This... this is a ghouled Boon Doc. The Goon."

Ezra's mind shattered.

"The Goon?!" Ezra muttered, his vision flashing in his mind.

Surprise came over Eli.

"You know about it?"

"I- um... your friends were talking about it..." Ezra stammered, hoping Eli wouldn't notice.

If he did, he didn't show it.

"So you know what he does, then," He said, his voice becoming quiet as a whisper.

Ezra nodded solemnly.

The twins stood awkwardly in silence.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Eli's eyes widened.

"I'm running out of time," He rushed quickly.

"You guys need to get out of here!"

Ezra shook his head angrily.

"I'm not leaving here without you, Eli!"

Eli opened his mouth to say something when something clicked in his head.

"Eli?" Ezra asked worriedly as the beeping became faster and more urgent.

 _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

" _Eli?!_ " Ezra's eyes became wild.

"This place will blow unless you shoot me!"

Eli didn't move.

 _Beep beep beep beep beep beep!_

"Just shoot me, Eli!" Ezra was basically screaming by now.

" _No!_ " Eli shouted back at him, keeping his gaze low.

 _Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!_

Eli sighed and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry," He muttered, raising his blaster.

Ezra felt his heart fall to the ground as he realized who the blaster was meant for.

"Eli, don't-!"

The padawan was cut off as his brother flipped the blaster towards himself and fired.

* * *

Junjie's eyes snapped open as his ears suddenly perked up.

"Someone in there just fired a Boon Doc!"

Trixie and Kord sat straight up.

"You sure?" Trixie asked nervously.

"It either could've been Doc or..."

Junjie's eyes widened.

"I'm going in."

Before anyone could say a word, Junjie took off throughout the blown-open door.

* * *

Ezra was angry. Confused. Shocked. Everything except dead.

" _ELI!_ "

Without thinking, Ezra ran towards his brother, who lay on the ground.

Eli's head whipped towards Ezra as he got close.

" _Don't touch me!_ " Eli growled in a voice which wasn't his.

The Goon on top of Eli growled, swiping at Ezra.

The padawan staggered backwards in alarm.

"Eli?"

The mindless Eli scowled.

"Your brother is gone," He said once more.

Ezra recognized the voice.

"I'm talking to the Goon, aren't I?" Ezra's tone turned into raw disgust.

Eli chuckled. The Ghoul was grinning.

"I've ghouled this boy before," the Goon seemed to be talking through Eli.

"And I'll do it again!"

Ezra flipped his lightsaber in his hands, until his blaster was in his hands.

"I'm not gonna let you," Ezra growled back.

Eli chuckled again, and a burst of reddish light started to form, lighting up the night.

"Ezra!"

Ezra quickly turned, seeing Junjie running towards him.

"Fire Doc!" Junjie was shouting, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Do it now!"

Ezra's quickly nodded.

Quickly breaking open the lock of the Elemental's cage, he summoned Doc to his hands.

"Ready buddy?"

Doc nodded, jumping into Ezra's blaster without hesitation.

"Now or never, Ezra!" Junjie was shouting over the noise building up.

Ezra sighed, wrapping his finger around the trigger. His hands were shaking.

"What if I miss?!" Ezra shouted.

Eli twitched as more light stung him.

Junjie's lips were moving, but Ezra couldn't hear him anymore.

Eli's eyes snapped open as he jumped up and tore the blaster out of Ezra's hands.

"Look who's back?!" The Dark Slinger screamed.


	15. The Darkness of Mourning

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH! ;D**

 **You guys were asking for the Goon.** ** _There's_** **the Goon. You're very welcome XD**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Ezra blinked, his breath catching in his throat.

Eli's eyes had an almost inhuman tinge to them, seeming to bear down like knives against a skull.

He'd changed into this _thing_ , just like a slug when it was ghouled.

This was Eli, and yet at the same time it wasn't.

Ezra refused to believe that the person that looked back at him was his brother.

The Dark Slinger stretched his fingers and cracked his neck, adjusting to his own body.

"That's _much_ better."

Ezra cringed at the sound of the Goon's voice.

Junjie immediately loaded and raised his blaster.

"Ezra, back away." Junjie's voice had hardened, failing to mask the hate in his voice.

Ezra took one step back, not breaking eye contact with his twin.

"What did you do?!" Ezra's eyes had narrowed, clenching his fists until he felt his nails dig against his palms.

Eli smirked, sending a feeling of uneasiness to Ezra's gut.

"He made his choice," said the Dark Slinger, seeming to relish his own words.

"A very stubborn, idiotic choice."

There was a tinge of humor in his tone.

Ezra's eyes flitted to the ground for a split second.

 _This isn't Eli you're talking too,_ He thought to himself.

 _It just the slug._

Junjie took a step forward.

"Remember me?" Junjie nearly spat.

His sudden anger caught Ezra by surprise.

Eli grinned.

"Only too well," He grinned.

There was a small warning that Ezra could sense through the Force.

"Junjie..." Ezra said, his voice slowly rising.

Junjie didn't have time to reply as the Dark Slinger reached up and snapped apart the metal collar around his neck with his hands.

The whole facility shook as several sirens went off, wailing as all the warning lights flashed a deep red.

Junjie struggled to stay on his feet.

"Eli?!" Ezra shouted in confusion.

Eli only smirked.

With a slight blur of his hand, a silvery blur shot over the ground, so fast you'd have missed it if you blinked.

"Gah...!"

Ezra looked over to see Junjie clutching his arm in pain.

One of Eli's metal cuffs was caught on his wrist.

"What the-?"

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Junjie's eyes widened.

"Better start running," Eli chuckled.

Without skipping a beat, the Dark Slinger raised his blaster into the air and fired.

Ezra could only watch as his brother was carried away by a ghoul.

The last thing he could see was the wicked glare in his eyes.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"You guys need to get out of here!" Junjie shouted, clawing frantically at his arm.

"What?!" Ezra shook his head.

"He's turned me into a time bomb, Ezra."

Junjie raised the beeping little contraption on his arm.

"It'll blow the whole place down if I try to take it off."

Ezra scowled, shaking his head again.

Junjie took a deep breath and scowled, thrusting Eli's lightsaber into his hands.

" _Just go!_ "

The Force launched the young padawan into the air, away from the explosive base. Pricks of pain shot up his side as Ezra landed by the entrance.

"Ezra?!" Kanan rushed towards his apprentice, helping him to his feet.

Ezra's mouth felt so dry that his words were stuck together. He held up the Elementals and pointed towards the lights.

"Did you find Eli?" Trixie asked anxiously.

"And where's Junjie?!"

Ezra wheezed, trying to warn his crew.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Ezra?!" Kord demanded.

"Trap," Ezra croaked, coughing out his words.

The explosion that came next was enough to make a dozen hearts stop.

Everyone huddled onto the Ghost, silently watching as the burning facility grew smaller and smaller.

The only thing left to hear was a very... _very_ distant hum.

The humming of the Force.

* * *

The sound of TIEs outside the Ghost kept Ezra occupied, for the most part.

A press of a button shot down one or two at a time.

Ezra closed his eyes and sighed.

He guessed that the constant swaying of the ship was making him nauseous.

 _I killed him._

 _I killed Junjie._

 _I lost Eli._

Ezra shot down three TIEs in a row, not seeming to notice that the ship was flying upside down.

The Shane gang had been avoiding his gaze for the past hour, like he was some kind of criminal for not saving them.

Ezra hit his face on the cannon as the Ghost started to speed up.

"Dang it!" Ezra muttered angrily, rubbing his forehead.

"Stupid..."

"Who're you calling stupid?"

Kanan's voice brought a certain relief to Ezra's ears.

"Sorry..." Ezra apologized quietly.

"I'm fine. Just hit my head..."

The jedi wasn't fooled.

"The Shane Gang told me a little more about your vision," Kanan began.

"If anything, we still have a chance to save your brother."

Ezra didn't look up.

"I couldn't save Junjie, Kanan. He's dead because of me."

Kanan rested a hand on his padawan's shoulder as the hues of hyperspace started to show.

"You keep blaming yourself. I can hear you repeating it over and over again from the other side of the galaxy."

Ezra looked up at Kanan.

He could tell that Kanan was still in mourning, and his crestfallen face looked awfully tired in the light.

"I still have hope for Eli," Kanan said at last.

"And Junjie, too."

Ezra sighed a little bitterly.

"Didn't you see that explosion, Kanan? How could he've survived that?"

Kanan blinked.

"Just... one of those feelings." He replied, leaving Ezra alone by himself.

Ezra closed his eyes, and tried just one last time what he'd done since he'd left he cloning facility.

 _Just for me,_ He thought.

 _Please..._

 _Don't._

 _Be._

 _Dead._

* * *

 **All aboard the feels train, and look who's the conductor? *points to self***

 **Yes, that last bit was a quote from Sherlock. Deal with it.**


	16. Planning

**Ughhhhhhhh I'm brain dead right now... I got kicked in the face...**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _"Unknown Rebel ally. Male human. Deceased."_

Ezra read the Imperial file over and over again, using it as an excuse for everyone to leave him alone.

So far, it's been working.

The Imperials even went as far as to post pictures of Junjie's body... another little reminder of who was in charge.

He was really _dead._

Ezra closed his eyes, quickly turning off the screen.

He blamed himself, he blamed Eli, he blamed Junjie, he blamed Twist- everyone he could tie the blame to, he did.

There was a tiny nudge at his foot.

"Hey there, little guys." Ezra cracked a tiny grin, the first in what seemed like a while.

Aliit jumped beside his slinger, chirping sadly. He pushed his little arms, trying to ease Ezra out of bed.

"Sorry guys, not right now..."

Aliit's expression became impatient. He lit up and butted his flaying head into Ezra's arm.

"Ow- hey!" The padawan promptly fell out of his bed, rubbing his burnt arm.

"What's up with you guys?"

Aliit dropped to the floor, nodding towards the door with big eyes.

Ezra exhaled, letting the Flaringo hop onto his hand.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Aliit..."

Gemini huffed, flapping his little wings and pushing against Ezra's back.

Ezra shook his head again.

"Guys-!"

Ezra's face went blank as he felt a slug plop onto his head, chirruping stubbornly.

"You guys aren't gonna let this go, huh?"

All his slugs shook their little heads in unison.

"Alright, alright, I'll go!" Ezra held up his hands in surrender, sliding open the door.

Zeb stood on the other side, his arms crossed. He didn't look lie he just wanted to say hi.

"What do you want?" Ezra mumbled, his gaze drifting back to the ground.

Zeb rolled his eyes.

"You do realize this is my room too, right?"

Ezra didn't laugh if it was a sore attempt of a joke.

Zeb's frown deepened.

"You've been avoiding everyone," He said lamely.

"Ever since whatever happened at the facility, you've been acting like a hermit. Kanan's getting worried, kid."

Ezra huffed.

"I'm just... not feeling up to it right now..."

Zeb roughly grabbed Ezra by the shoulder.

"I know what you're thinking, so cut it out! Once this is all over you'd better be plotting to blow something up, or _something_ other than this!"

Ezra stood amazed for a moment.

"You can't be serious," Ezra huffed.

"I could've helped them both, and I didn't. Now whoever's left of the Shane gang is avoiding me like the plague. It's better off I stay out of this."

Zeb held his fiery gaze for a few more moments before throwing up his hands.

"Whatever you say, kid," He grumbled in defeat.

"Hera expects us all to meet up with her later. You'd better be there, or I'll personally run you over with a speeder."

Ezra waited about five breaths until Zeb's heavy footsteps finally disappeared.

"You guys totally set me up for that," He said, a little annoyance in his voice.

The slugs only rolled their eyes.

* * *

Ezra held his breath as he slowly walked into the meeting room.

Kanan and Hera immediately exchanged looks as soon as they saw him.

Exactly like he expected, Kord and Trixie became wary of how close Ezra came.

His stomach turned as he saw them slowly shuffle away.

 _They still hate me._

"Ezra."

Sabine nodded her head between her and Zeb, with a trace of sympathy in her eyes.

Aliit jumped up onto Ezra's shoulder, chirruping softly.

Ezra turned on the Shane gang's gaze and went over to his seat.

"Alright then," Hera sighed.

"We all know last night was a dark one, with the corruption of Eli and the loss of Junjie."

Ezra caught Kord staring at him at this sentence.

"But... there's been some word spreading throughout the fleet."

"What'd they say?" Sabine asked.

Kanan took a deep breath.

"They think that they're alive. Both of them."

Kanan held up a hand to silence all the voices that came.

"They _think_. We _might_ just have another chance, if not our last."

Hera pressed a few buttons, pulling up a holo-map of... wherever it was.

"We've tracked five Destroyers entering and leaving the planet at almost the exact same time of the explosion. We know that Eli was flown into one of them before they took off. They dropped him off at some kind of reformatory for kids."

Zeb scowled.

"Might just be as bogus as the last tip off we got."

Hera shot a threatening look towards Zeb. He quickly shut up and sat back down.

"As I was saying," The pilot continued, tracing her finger along the map.

"Even though we've got a pretty good idea to where Eli's captured, we won't be able to get to wherever they've dropped off Eli without being noticed by anyone unfriendly."

"What're you saying?" Trixie asked softly. There was a note of hope in her voice.

"I think I know," Sabine quickly pulled up an image.

"We'd have to power down the entire power grid in the area just to be able to get by without being seen."

"That's suicide!" Zeb objected.

"There'll be bucket-heads swarming from inside and out of the whole place!"

"Unless we shut in down somewhere else," Kanan was starting to grin.

"There'll barely be anyone left by the time we get there."

Ezra felt like a tiny weight was lifted off his chest as everyone started moving.

They were finally getting somewhere.

* * *

 _Smack._

Eli jerked awake, groaning at the throbbing in his side.

"What...?"

There was a tiny gasp. He could hear the sound of tiny footsteps frantically scuttling away.

Eli opened his eyes.

He wasn't with the Goon.

Rubbing his head, Eli slowly sat up.

Another cell. Great.

One thing was for sure, the Goon obviously meant to leave him here.

A tiny rustle caught his attention.

Eli quickly glanced behind him, earning a tiny whimper from whoever it was.

Recognition crossed Eli's face.

He saw this kid at Tarkin Town.

The blue-eyed boy looked even more disheveled than when Eli had last seem him, and certainly hadn't been any better fed.

There was fear in his eyes.

"Are you a monster?" The boy whimpered quietly.

This sudden accusation caught Eli off guard.

"What?" He muttered, still shaking off the Goon's effects.

The little boy shrank deeper into his cell corner.

"A monster," He said.

"Like the Imperials."

Eli's expression softened.

"No," He said at last, when he could actually comprehend his own words.

"I'm not, I think."

Eli subconsciously rubbed at his neck, where the heavy metallic collar had been.

"Why'd you ask?"

The little boy leaned out into the light, just enough to see his face.

He pointed a finger to a half-wreaked metal bench, with shrapnel scattered all over the ground.

There were trace amounts of blood on the larger pieces.

"You tried to hurt yourself," The boy said quietly.

"You were yelling a lot, and looked real scary."

He stopped quivering, and peered a little closer.

"But now you look normal, again."

Eli tried to sit up, only to cry out in pain. There was still a piece of scrap metal wedged into his side.

The child looked more alarmed.

"Don't move!" He begged.

"It'll make it worse!"

Eli sucked in a breath. The pain didn't go away, but it kept it off his mind.

"You have any idea where we are?" Eli asked, failing to hide the hoarseness in his throat.

The boy shook his head.

"They took my mommy and daddy," He said, his gaze dropping.

"I think they're dead."

Eli remembered the parents sitting with him the night he handed the blankets out. He felt his heart sink to his stomach.

 _Just stay calm,_ He thought quietly.

"What's your name, kid?"

The kid blinked, hesitating.

"You can trust me," Eli said, soothing his voice.

"The bad guy's gone, for now."

The boy stayed silent for a moment.

"My name... is Risus."

Eli managed a tiny grin, sitting up to a somewhat-comfortable position.

"My name's Eli."

Risus's face fell.

"I heard them talking about you," He said quietly.

"They said that you were going to die."

Eli sighed. That must've been Twist.

"Maybe I am," Said the Shane, remembering his overdue 'execution'.

Risus perked up.

"Don't you dare," He said, genuinely concerned.

Eli looked surprised for a moment.

"Alright," He said, resting himself against the cell wall.

"I'll try not to."


	17. The Workers

**OMG, I nearly forgot about writing today... oops!**

 **Yay, weekend! Everyone loves the weekend! I love the weekend! You love the weekend! We all _LOVE_ the weekend! X3**

 **Alright, so I might have had at least three bags of sugar in the past hour... who cares?! WEEKEND!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _The Shane gang was back in Slugterra._

 _It was like normal times, dueling and blowing things up._

 _Eli felt himself smile. Everyone was doing what they loved to do._

 _Oddly enough, he could see the Ghost crew, too._

 _Ezra shouting as Chopper zapped him, cackling mischievously._

 _No, they weren't in the same cavern. The Ghost was still in space, while his gang was in Slugterra._

 _For a brief moment, everyone was happy._

 _Then, the lumino ore in the cavern started to dim._

 _Everything started moving slower, and less cheerful._

 _"Where's everything going?" Eli asked himself, knowing nobody could hear._

 _When everything reappeared, nobody was smiling._

 _Everyone had the same grim expression, eyes closed in a sad mourning ritual._

 _The whole gang was huddled together, looking down at something._

 _Eli stood on his tiptoes, but couldn't see past Kord's shoulders._

 _"What're you guys looking at?" Eli asked once again._

 _He didn't get a response._

 _Then there was Redhook._

 _Nothing about Redhook looked the same._

 _There were deep dark circles around his one good eye, and he had his lightsaber in hand, pressed to his heart._

 _"Guys?" Eli walked around the group, trying to get a better view of what they were looking at._

 _His heart froze in his chest._

 _A grave._

 _They were standing around a stone headstone, mourning somebody's death._

 _And Eli was nowhere to be seen..._

* * *

"Eli!"

A nudge at his arm pulled him gasping awake.

Risus gasped, quickly pulling away. After waiting of a few seconds, the boy finally calmed down, slowing his breathing.

"I was worried..." Risus muttered softly.

"I didn't know if they'd bring you back..."

Eli looked down at his wound, newly bandaged and cleaned.

"Something happen?" Eli groaned, running a hand though his hair.

"The nurses here," Risus said, in a hushed tone.

"They took you away. You looked like you were having a real bad nightmare, too."

Eli sighed. Better not worry this kid any more than he already was.

"I'm alright," Said Eli.

"Thanks, anyway."

Risus made a sharp shushing sound, pointing at the closed cell door.

"The people here are crazy," The blue-eyed boy whimpered, almost in horror.

"During lunch, they make the kids do all the kitchen work. One cut off his finger, and they took him away!"

Something about that gave Eli a jolt.

"What kinda place is this?" Eli said, lower than a whisper so Risus wouldn't be scared.

"It's a prison for kids," The boy sobbed quietly.

"I want my mommy and daddy."

Eli pressed his lips together.

So did he.

He was about to comfort the boy when the cell doors hissed open, and a skinny, unpleasant-looking old woman stood in the door, a large frown curled on her face.

"Get up," She snapped sharply.

"Both of you! No use for lazy hands!"

Risus jumped to his feet, nervously cupping his hands together.

" _Up!_ " The woman hissed at Eli.

"Or no food for the both of you!"

Eli glanced over at Risus before pushing a hand against the wall, staggering to his feet.

Risus rushed over to Eli's arm, steadying him.

The woman stuck her nose in the air, marking something down in her datapad before striding over to the next cell.

Eli took in a breath.

"I hate her," Risus muttered.

"She smells like old bantha breath."

Eli had no idea what a bantha was, but made an attempt to smile anyway.

With Risus's help, they both stepped out the door and caught up with the rest of the group outside.

* * *

All the kids stood in a line, holding their breaths as another woman, this one younger than the first, passed by, keeping a careful eye out for anything that the kids could use against them.

The woman walked slowly, her heels clicking against the stone, until she finally reached Risus and Eli.

"Hmm." She stopped walking and turned to face Eli, glancing between him and her little chart.

"You are not on the roster," The woman said, with a heavy accent that was unrecognizable.

"Hold out your data chip."

Eli simply stood, confused.

"Data chip?"

"Are you deaf?" The woman said sharply, her blank expression turning into a scowl.

"Your data chip!"

Eli spotted Risus beside him, wide eyed and frightened.

"I, uh... don't think I have one-"

The woman growled in frustration.

"Of course you do!" She hissed.

Within a second, she grabbed Eli by the arm, slapping a small, palm-sized device to his wrist.

The device scanned the length of his forearm before beeping.

As soon as the person let go, Eli grabbed back his arm defensively.

The woman tapped something on her device and nodded slowly at the results.

"The new one," She muttered, a tinge of disgust in her voice.

"Chip was implanted just last night, I see."

Eli quickly glanced down at his wrist. There was a tiny little mark in his arm, no bigger than the width of his fingernail.

"New children," The woman scowled again, looming over Eli.

"Always causing trouble."

As the woman turned away, Eli quickly looked around.

Everyone was already looking right at him, staring at how he stuck out from the rest.

He was obviously the oldest one here, that much he knew.

Nobody here was much taller than his shoulders.

And then there was his wound.

Most of the kids had tiny cuts and bruises on their arms and legs, but none as serious as his.

There were none that looked like they were missing a finger.

"Name." The lady said impatiently, rapping her fingers.

Eli hesitated.

The wrong choice.

"For goodness sake, child!" The woman screeched, already at the end of her rope.

It wasn't long before the woman reared back her arm and slapped him with the back of her hand, landing him flat on his back.

Risus reached for Eli, only to be glared down by the woman.

The boy reluctantly pulled away.

"Stultus Puer," The woman said, marking down Eli's new name.

Eli kept his eyes closed until the clicking of the woman's heels faded, and everyone silently went off to their work stations.

Risus was at his side in an instant.

"Why didn't you tell her your name?" He asked, helping Eli onto his feet.

Eli swallowed.

"It's complicated," He said quietly.

"I'll tell you later, okay?"

Risus stared into Eli's eyes before nodding.

"Okay."

* * *

 **Alright, I just realized that I forgot to tell you guys something ;D**

 **You guys might know by now that I make most of my names with special meanings, like how Aliit means family in Mando'a. I'll leave it up to you guys to figure out Risus and Stultus Puer on your own! XD XD**

 **Byyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeee!**


	18. Inspection Day

**Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow. Meow meow? Meow.**

 **That's all, carry on.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _It shouldn't have felt so real._

 _It wouldn't have been real._

 _Ezra felt himself curled up into a little ball, unable to move._

 _His lightsaber was lying on the ground, deactivated._

 _It won't be real._

 _"Guys!" Eli was shouting. His voice sounded like nothing but a hazy echo._

 _"C'mon, guys, wake up! Let's go!"_

 _Ezra's eyes were wide open, but he couldn't blink or look away._

 _There was a stranger's body lying dead next to him._

 _The last thing that he heard was the sound of a single blaster shot, ringing inside of Ezra's skull forever..._

* * *

"Kid, wake up!" Sabine hissed.

Ezra felt a pair of hands shake him awake.

"Wha-?"

Sabine quickly shushed Ezra, motioning him to follow.

Ezra hesitated.

"What's going on?" He whispered, still half-asleep.

Sabine rolled her eyes impatiently and grabbed Ezra by the collar, dragging him along.

* * *

" _Sabine_!" Ezra was whisper-yelling, grabbing at his shirt.

"Let go of me!"

Sabine sighed, letting go of the boy's collar.

Both teens stood in the Ghost's meeting room, awkwardly.

"So what'd you drag me all the way here for?" Ezra muttered, rubbing at his aching neck.

Sabine nodded her head towards a dark corner.

Kord, Trixie, and Zeb all stood in the dark, lit dimly only by Aliit and Burpy's firelight.

The slugs hopped willingly onto Ezra's shoulder, chirping quietly.

"Finally," Zeb growled.

"Took you long enough."

Out of the corner of his eye, Erza spotted the Shane gang edging away at the sight of him.

Just what he needed right about now. Ezra made sure to avoid their gaze.

"We thought you needed to see something," Sabine said tenderly.

With the tap of a button, a holo projection of a long list of names appeared on the screen.

Sabine scrolled down as quickly as she could until typing in a code, which pulled up one name's profile.

Ezra nearly choked himself.

"That's Eli!" Ezra muttered.

He ran his finger down the file's description.

"Quick question... who's Stultus?"

Sabine shrugged.

"We guessed that it was an alias. We've been able to narrow down the reformatories that Eli might be at, though."

Trixie crossed her arms.

"Why'd they throw him into a reformatory, anyway?" She asked.

"Why not just drop him off at a regular prison?"

Zeb shook his head, sighing.

"Everything's been upside down, nowadays."

Sabine pursed her lips.

"If we're lucky, we might be able to sneak the Phantom out and be back before Kanan and Hera even notice we're gone."

Ezra quickly looked around.

"Aaaand... why aren't we telling Hera and Kanan about this?"

"We're headed back towards the fleet right now," Sabine said.

"But we have to get there as fast as we can,"

Ezra crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows.

"Because...?"

Sabine sighed, pulling up another profile.

"Because this."

Ezra peered in close to look at the file, and quickly backed away.

"No way," Ezra muttered.

Sabine moved over so that the Shane gang could see.

"Is... that Junjie?!"

Sabine nodded.

"And that's not all..."

She pointed out some barely legible text on the screen.

 _Imperial Cadet Academy._

* * *

Eli lined up in his familiar spot beside Risus as the woman made her way down the line, scanning each child as she went.

"Tace, Mendax, Sero..." The woman droned.

She had, as did all the 'caretakers' at the facility, a silvery leather uniform with the Imperial symbol neatly etched in silver on the collar. She had the familiar, swept-up bun pinning her hair to her head, with what looked like leather boots strapped a little too tightly around her legs.

Eli refused to believe that she'd been trained to actually care for others, much less children.

"Puer." The woman had rolled the false name off her tongue as foully as possible.

Eli reluctantly held out his wrist as the nurse scanned his forearm with the familiar device.

"Very well," The woman said at last as she scanned the very last person in line.

"We will be undergoing inspection today in a few hours."

Her gaze swept the whole line, and everyone drew in their breaths. It was as if she were wielding a knife.

"You must all clean yourselves and act as well cared for as possible when the Imperials arrive."

Eli felt his heart tighten in his chest.

Risus must've sensed his fear too, as he squeezed his hand extra tight.

"This hasn't happened before," Risus whispered to Eli.

Eli swallowed.

That didn't sound good.

"Polish up, brats," The woman sneered.

"Or no food for the rest of the day."

She neatly tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before walking away.

As soon as she was gone, all the kids quickly scuttled off to scrub the walls and floors.

Eli glanced down at his bandaged waist, not looking any better than before.

"How do they expect me to hide this?" He groaned, picking at the bandage in disgust.

His walking strength had improved over the last couple days- as in, he could walk three steps on his own before falling on his face.

Risus just shrugged, swatting Eli's hand away from his wound.

"I can take over for you, if you want." Risus held up his little bucket of cleaning supplies, extra full for today's Imperial visit.

Eli shook his head, taking the load out of the boy's hands.

"I'll be alright, promise." Eli cracked a half smile.

Risus huffed, taking his bucket back.

"You should at least get some rest," Risus said sharply, pouting his lips.

Eli opened his mouth to argue again, then quickly shut it as soon as he saw one of the nurses marching her way over to them.

"Uh oh," Eli said under his breath.

" _You two!_ " The nurse snapped irritably.

This woman was a little stouter than the rest, and looked like she could barely walk in her own boots. Little gray hairs streaked across her head, and a red little badge was pinned to her uniform.

She was the head nurse of the facility.

"Y-yes?" Risus immediately got to his feet.

The nurse roughly grabbed the boy by the arm, using a surprising amount of strength for her size.

"Hey!" Eli reached out to take Risus back, only tripping over his own leg and falling.

The floor was slippery with bubbles and suds, showing Eli a clear reflection of himself.

"Slacking off, are we?" He heard the nurse growl.

In the puddle of soap, he could see Risus squirming in the woman's grip.

"No, we weren't, I swear!" Risus was pleading.

" _Fool!_ " The nurse hissed.

There was the sound of a bucket being kicked off the floor, and soapy water flew across the ground.

Eli felt something boil up inside of him as Risus whimpered over and over again.

"Stop!" Eli shouted, glaring up at the nurse.

The nurse dropped the boy in surprise.

Risus instantly was at Eli's side, helping him to his feet.

Eli was stunned for a moment, glancing over at the woman.

Her hand was frozen in the air, shaking as if something were controlling her hand.

"You..." The woman gasped in fear, ripping her hand out of the Fore's grip.

"You're one of them Jedi!"

Eli said nothing.

He could only watch as she speedily turned and walked as quickly away from him as possible.

"Eli?" Risus looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Did you make her let me go?"

The Shane stood in silence for a moment, unsure what to say.

"Yes," He said at last.

"I did, I think."

Risus made a tiny 'o' with his mouth before bursting out in a laughing fit.

"Did you see her face?!" Risus giggled, clutching his sides.

"That was _awesome!_ She was all 'ahhhh' and then she was all 'whaaaa?' and then she was all..."

Eli held up a hand before he got too excited.

"You hear that?"

They both fell silent as they listened to the sky.

A large shadow spread over the ground as the sound of an engine filled the air.

"That's a ship."

Eli's heart sank.

"The Imperials are here."

And he'd just used the Force on the head nurse.


	19. Tiny Undercover Ninja Spies

**Halloween's coming up soon! XD Hope everyone is having an awesome week!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Come on... come on!" Sabine grunted, fiddling around with the Phantom's controls.

"Hera locked up all the controls to this thing!"

Zeb snorted.

"Well, you'd expect as much after the last time we snuck the Phantom out, right?"

Sabine shot an annoyed look over at the lasat before running her fingers through her hair.

"Maybe I can get us loose in... I dunno..." Sabine sighed, doing the math in her head.

"Half an hour?"

Ezra nearly fell out of his chair.

"Half an hour?!" He groaned, sitting up in his chair.

"Hey, that's if I'm lucky!" Sabine threw up her hands in defense.

"Maybe more, maybe less, who knows how long it'll take from here!"

A tiny chirp caught everyone's attention.

Aliit and Burpy both hopped up onto the control panel and waved.

"Hmm..."

Trixie went over and let both slugs onto her hands.

"Maybe we don't have to do it from here."

Trixie held up the slugs, who both smiled smugly.

"If Hera locked them up, wouldn't she be able to latch off the Phantom herself?"

Sabine considered Trixie's point.

"Wait, so you're gonna send the slugs to do it?" Zeb growled.

Burpy stuck his tongue out at the lasat.

"Well, we can't do it ourselves," Sabine countered, crossing her arms.

"Not without Hera waking up and noticing!"

Ezra closed his eyes, letting his head rest on the wall.

"She's right about that," He sighed, smiling slightly as the slugs jumped down beside him.

"You guys up for this?"

Aliit stood up as tall as he could (not very tall, anyway) and puffed out his chest, clapping his tiny arms together.

He gave a tiny nod in approval.

* * *

Aliit and Burpy silently hopped their way down the halls of the Ghost.

Burpy was particularly excited to be sneaking around a spaceship, peeking around every chair and corner to try and find something out of a famous movie or something.

The Flaringo, however, knew every square inch of the Ghost's interior by now.

Aliit popped his head around another corner of a hallway and slitted his eyes, looking left and right.

He activated into what looked like a fail of a secret ninja style, backing up against the wall and running as fast as he could across the floor, then scanned left and right again before waving over Burpy.

Must've caught on from Ezra.

Burpy rolled his eyes, hopping normally down the same path.

This continued for a while, after getting lost three and a half times in a row.

Aliit suddenly perked up, jumping on top of Burpy to snuff out his firelight.

Burpy irritably chirped, only to be shushed again.

"Hey Hera, have you seen Ezra anywhere?" Kanan's muffled voice was saying.

Footsteps were coming close to the cockpit doors, which were closed shut.

"No, not yet, love," Hera said from inside.

The doors hissed open, and the jedi's brown boots treaded through.

Aliit quickly waved Burpy over just before the doors shut again.

Kanan rubbed his forehead, sitting down beside the pilot.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Hera said tenderly.

Kanan rubbed his temples, nodding slowly.

"Just worried about how Ezra's doing, and all that," Kanan leaned back in his seat, his arms nearly sweeping the slugs onto the ground.

"Kanan, we're all worried." Hera turned to face Kanan, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Poor kid's lost his brother... more than once in his life already."

Aliit squeezed his way over to the control panel, amazed at all the buttons. He'd seen Hera do this a dozen times.

It shouldn't be that hard, right?

Burpy jumped up beside Aliit, pressing the first button they saw.

"What the-?" Hera jumped to an electrical jolt that zapped out and licked at her fingers.

Kanan instantly jumped up from his chair, once again almost squishing the slugs.

"Kanan, I'm _fine._ " Hera lightly brushed away Kanan's hands as she inspected the Ghost's steering.

"I just fixed this up last week..." She muttered.

Her gaze quickly swept the entire cockpit.

"What is it?" Kanan asked, looking around.

Hera searched every corner of the control panel.

"Must've been a malfunction..." Hera sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"I'll get Chopper to deal with it later... what I really need is some sleep..."

Aliit let out a sigh of relief, wiping his forehead.

Kanan pursed his lips together.

"Hera, wait."

Both the slugs froze, Burpy covering Aliit's mouth not to gasp.

"Yes?" Hera looked back expectantly.

Kanan sighed.

"A couple nights ago... I overheard Eli and Junjie talking. About Ezra's father."

Hera froze, as if she'd been shot.

"What'd they say?" She asked.

Kanan shrugged.

"Didn't get to hear the rest... but I know one thing. They're hiding something from Ezra."

Hera nodded slowly.

"Just... get some sleep, Kanan," Hera said, yawning.

"Hopefully tomorrow's less stressful than today."

As soon as they both had gone, Burpy let out his breath, dropping Aliit back onto the panel.

The Flaringo stumbled around, falling onto another random button.

Burpy gasped and held his breath.

A little light popped up on the board. Aliit giggled.

The Infurnus did a little happy dance, and the two did a tiny fist bump.

Mission Accomplished.

* * *

Sabine pointed out the light on the dash of the Phantom.

"You guys did it," Ezra chuckled, letting Aliit onto his shoulder.

Aliit chirped cooly in response.

Sabine sat down in the pilot's seat and pressed a couple buttons.

"Might get a little cramped in here," She warned in advance.

Everyone was already elbowing each other aside as is.

Ezra noticed Kord and Trixie step away from him. Again.

Sabine and Zeb seemed to notice too, as they narrowed their eyes, frowning.

"Hey, can I talk to you guys for a minute?" Ezra asked, closing his eyes tight.

He didn't want them to realize how much this had been hurting him.

Kord and Trixie looked almost alarmed for a moment.

After a few seconds, she calmed herself and nodded.

"Uh... sure."

"Hurry it up, guys," Zeb said from the front of the Phantom.

"We've got to take off before our angry pilot notices we're all gone!"

Chopper quietly beeped in agreement.

Ezra rolled his eyes as they both stepped out into the hallway.

Trixie immediately tried to avoid Ezra's gaze.

"Could you actually look at me?" Ezra nearly growled, crossing his arms.

Trixie crossed her arms too, but not unkindly.

"What your deal, Ezra?" She said, her voice wavering a little.

Ezra opened his mouth, but then shook his head.

"I notice things," He said finally.

"You and Kord have been avoiding me ever since we got back from the clone facility."

Trixie looked him in the eye, but only for a second.

Her hands were on her hips now, and she didn't look happy.

"That's not-"

Trixie immediately stopped herself, thinking over her words.

"Alright," Trixie said slowly.

"So maybe we have. But not because we have anything against you."

Ezra raised his eyebrows and tilted his head.

"So why, then?"

Kord held up his hands.

"Look, you didn't do anything wrong, okay?" Kord sighed.

"It's just... we're really worried about Eli, just as much as you are."

Ezra tilted his head forward even more.

"We all are," He said quietly.

"What's this got to do with me, then?"

Trixie and Kord both exchanged glances.

"You... remind us of him, Ezra," Trixie sighed, walking back inside the Phantom. Kord didn't meet his eyes as he followed behind.

Ezra stayed silent for a while, replaying the conversation over and over in his head.

Aliit's chirping pulled him out of his trance. Soon, Gemini, Cor, Spes, and Nexu joined together on his arms.

All of them looked at him, big eyed.

Ezra cracked a smile.

"You little spies," Ezra scolded.

"Ezra!" Sabine called as quietly as she could.

"We gotta go!"

Ezra rolled his eyes.

"I'm coming!"


	20. The Cadet

**Alright, you guys are gonna hate me for missing SO MANY UPDATES, but I have a perfectly reasonable explanation...**

 **... Reasons.**

 **But, I still feel really bad for not following the once-a-week schedule...**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The light patter of rain kept Ezra from going insane as he walked about the dozens of people, keeping his head low.

"I'm probably walking in circles," Ezra muttered to himself, eyeing his surroundings carefully.

He had absolutely no clue where he'd start looking, and barely any grasp on the streets of Driea- a planet he'd never even heard of.

Ezra shook off what water he could and shivered.

The name Driea really made him think it was going to be dry.

There was going to be an Imperial ship leaving this planet which, according to Sabine, would be leaving for what hopefully was wherever Eli was being held.

Goulcrest Reformatory, it was apparently dubbed by most Imperials.

Meant to be some sort of system to turn "traitor bloodlines" into slaves.

 _Stay focused,_ Ezra thought angrily to himself, accidentally walking directly into a wall in his trance.

A couple of citizens looked his way, confused.

Ezra brushed himself off, quickly picking up his pace.

"There's got to be an easier way to do this," Ezra sighed.

He quickly stopped his walking and looking up.

Three stormtroopers stood on one of the taller, dirtier buildings, carefully surveying the area.

Quickly glancing left and right, he ducked into a dark, trash-ridden alley way and grabbed (what he really hoped was) a really stale piece of bread.

"You're up, Aliit," He muttered to his backpack.

Out popped a very grumpy Aliit.

Apparently, as Ezra had slowly learned, he was really stubborn when waking up from a really long nap.

Especially after being a ninja for the whole night.

The Flaringo chirped irritably at his slinger.

"Look, I'll make it up to you later," Ezra said assuringly, letting the slug onto his hand.

"Promise."

Aliit crossed his tiny arms, tapping his foot patiently.

"Uh... extra food?"

Aliit huffed, tilting his head.

"Alright, uh... extra sparring time?"

Aliit huffed again.

Ezra sighed, then lit up.

"You guys get to chase Chopper around again..." Ezra said in a singsongy voice.

Aliit considered the deal for a moment.

With a tiny _poof_ , the stale bread was set ablaze.

"Thanks buddy," Ezra sighed.

Eyeing the shot as perfectly as possible, he threw the burning bread as high as he could.

First, the bread knocked the nearest stormtrooper in the head, sending him flying over the edge of the roof.

"What the-?" The other two troopers quickly turned around to see a nearby randomly placed crate catch fire.

"I've got it..." One trooper grumbled, stamping out the flames.

"Where's... whoa, whoa, whoa-!" With a flick of Ezra's wrist, both troopers fell overboard.

Ezra chuckled, making his way onto the rooftop.

"Awesome."

Ezra knelt down on the rooftop, gazing downward.

The stormtroopers fell onto a poor man's fruit stand, covered with thick, sticky muck.

The owner didn't actually seem to mind at all, amused by the situation.

Least something funny happened this week.

Aliit jumped up and down, squeaking wildly.

Ezra glanced up, squinting to get a better view.

A large Imperial ship could be seen landing in the distance. There were several droids standing watch as a long line of cadets marched their way onboard.

A muscle twitched in Ezra's eye. The Force was drawing him closer.

Silent as a mouse, he plopped down from his perch and ducked behind a stack of crates just as the marching of boots stopped.

The cadets stood shoulder-to-shoulder, side-by-side, straight as an arrow as they all stood at attention.

"They have no idea..." Ezra muttered to himself, leaning in closer.

The Force... why would it lead him here?

Ezra rubbed at an ebbing pain in his skull, his head suddenly throbbing.

Then something interesting happened.

One cadet in the line looked his way.

Muffling a gasp, he quickly ducked back behind the crates.

"Something wrong, cadet?" He heard a gruff voice from behind him.

Ezra bit his lip.

"No, sir." The cadet said.

The sound of footsteps caused Ezra to hold his breath.

"There's nothing here, there's nothing here," Ezra quickly shut his eyes his eyes, focusing on that one thought.

The footsteps stopped just paces away from his hiding place.

"There's nothing here," The Imperial muttered, scratching his head.

There was no response from the cadet.

"Sir, we're running late," A stormtrooper spoke up in the back.

"We have to get moving."

The Imperial glanced towards the stack of crates one more time before signaling the cadets to go onboard.

Ezra saw his chance.

Just before the last cadet crossed through the entrance, he silently leapt over the box of crates and slid just beside the entrance, pressing his back against the wall of the ship.

 _Whew._ Ezra thought to himself, catching his breath.

 _That was-_

The cadet immediately perked up, looking around wildly.

Something clicked in Ezra's mind, beckoning him to look a little closer...

A low, rumbling sound startled the padawan, nearly causing him to lose his balance.

Peering inside the ship, all the cadets had already gone inside.

The ship was beginning to take off.

"No, no, no..." Ezra bit his lip.

He quickly switched on his com link.

"Spectre 5!" He hissed in a rushed tone.

"Didn't you say the ship was gonna take off an hour from now?"

"No, I said that the ship was supposed to take off an hour ago!" Sabine could be heard groaning on the other side.

The ship's rumbling was getting louder by the second, and the puddles of rainwater began to ripple ever so slightly.

Ezra had to slightly yell to be heard.

"Well, I found it," Ezra said worriedly.

"But..."

"Don't tell me it's taking off right _now_?!"

Sabine was shouting by now.

Ezra was a little glad he wasn't doing this face-to-face.

"Kid, get the heck outta there!"

The boy hesitated, glancing at the doors.

"You guys are still up there, right?"

There was a pause.

"Yeah, just far enough away from the planet... And?"

There wasn't much time to respond. The ship's ramp slowly began to roll itself shut.

"Meet you guys there," muttered Ezra.

Without a second to spare, he slipped through the barely open crack in the ramp just before the whole thing hissed shut.

For three whole seconds, which arguably was quite a reasonable amount of time, everything was alright. Ezra nearly laughed in relief.

And that's when the cadet punched him in the face.

* * *

 **... Don't kill me for waiting so long, guys!**

 **Yes, I did make up a planet in this chapter. Insert smiley face here.**

 **It's Veteran's Day at the moment, so take time to honor them while it lasts.**

 **Hopefully, I can get update onto normal schedule again! Byeeeee!**


	21. Ready

**Surprise!**

 **Okay, not so much** ** _surprise,_** **more like I'm actually updating again XD**

 **I normally update on Saturdays, so _please please please_ stop asking. I updated on Wednesday last time, because it had been a rushed week, and I hadn't had time to do anything else.**

 **Please try to remember this.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

As soon as the blow connected with his face, Ezra regretted getting onto the ship.

The cadet punched him again, this time much harder. Ezra's eyes watered up, blurring his vision.

"Hey-!" Ezra grunted as the cadet managed to hastily pin one arm behind his back, slamming him against the wall.

"Who are you?!" The cadet barked, with an oddly familiar voice.

Ezra spat a lock of hair out of his mouth, struggling to get a good look at his attacker.

"Hey man, I don't want any- " Ezra nearly choked on his own words as he turned his head.

"What?!" The cadet hissed, tightening his grip.

Ezra tried not to wince as his arm started to ache.

"...Junjie?" Ezra said through gritted teeth.

Immediately, the cadet dropped his grip, leaving Ezra staggering against the wall.

The cadet pressed a button on his helm, which slid up to reveal his face.

"How... how do you know my name?!" Junjie snarled, taking a step away.

Ezra was... stunned, to put it in words.

"You don't remember?"

Junjie's expression instantly melted.

The two boys jumped at the sound of a door hissing open nearby.

Roughly, Junjie grabbed Ezra by the neck and dragged him into a nearby storage room.

"Watch it!"

Ezra batted away Junjie's hand, rubbing his neck.

The cadet didn't bother to apologize.

"How did you know my name?" He questioned in an unfriendly manner.

"How'd you even get in here?!"

Ezra's throat became dry and scratchy. It was painful to speak.

"So... they wiped you too..." Ezra croaked, pausing to wipe a tiny trickle of blood from his nose.

Junjie pursed his lips, softening his expression.

"How did you know that?" He asked quietly.

This time there was a slight waver in his voice.

Ezra swallowed, taking in a deep breath.

"Alright, so this is all gonna sound insane," He began.

Junjie tilted his head and crossed his arms, nodding for him to continue.

* * *

After washing his hands of bubbles and grime, Eli lined up in his usual spot beside Risus for the afternoon role call.

The Imperial ship opened up for several stormtroopers marching through.

Risus yelped, hiding behind Eli's good leg.

Eli looked down in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Eli whispered softly.

Risus could only stare at the ship, pointing.

Looking up, Eli saw another man- another Imperial- that he guessed Risus was so afraid of.

The head nurse quietly tapped her heels as she stood patiently.

"Agent Kallus," She said in an overly welcoming voice.

"How nice of you to stop by."

Agent Kallus brushed off a bit of invisible dust on his uniform, a bored expression on his face.

"I have orders from the Empire," Kallus said flatly.

He made a motion with his hand, and the head nurse quickly handed over her scanner.

"They've been fed and well cared for, I assure you." The stout nurse said quietly as Kallus began scanning the children's forearms.

Eli felt a small scowl form on his face.

 _Liar,_ He thought to himself.

With the first child, he scrutinized their arms and height.

"They hardly seem ready," Kallus said blatantly, not looking away.

Eli narrowed his eyes, suddenly full of suspicion.

Ready for what?

A few very short minutes later, the sound of Kallus's boots had made it in front of Eli.

He made sure to keep his head low as he held out his arm to scan.

After the scanner passed over his arm, Kallus paused very briefly.

"Hmm."

Agent Kallus crossed his arms, towering over Eli.

"State your name, boy." Kallus frowned.

Eli felt a fleck of spit hit his face.

"Puer," He muttered, not making eye contact.

The Imperial sharply snapped his fingers twice to get the boy's attention.

"Let me see you when you address me, _Puer._ "

The alias rolled off his tongue as if it tasted foul.

Reluctantly, Eli lifted his head slightly.

Irritated, Kallus lifted Eli's chin, turning it in examination.

"You look very familiar..." Muttered Kallus.

Eli struggled to keep his head on his neck.

"I don't-"

Eli's breath froze.

Ezra. He was talking about his brother.

Dropping Eli's chin, he glanced down at the reading on the scanner.

"Ah."

A small grin of amusement crossed Kallus's face.

"So you're _that_ one."

He motioned the head nurse over, who nearly tripped over herself just to walk.

"Tell me," He asked,

"Have you seen anything... _unusual_ with this boy?"

The head nurse looked very uneasy.

"No..." She said quietly.

Eli finally had the sense to start breathing again.

The nurse was afraid of him.

Kallus held that same sour look on his face.

"Are you sure, miss?" He asked again, a touch more sarcasm mixed in.

The nurse gulped.

"I'm quite sure," She squeaked.

Agent Kallus examined her face for about a minute before turning to the stormtroopers.

He silently slid a finger across his throat.

Two stormtroopers marched in and grabbed the head nurse on both sides, dragging her away as she screamed her head off.

Eli's blood ran cold as he heard a single gunshot in the distance.

For a moment, Kallus stood there, looking bored.

There was a jolt of pain in his side as the Imperial threw Eli onto the ground, towards the ship.

" _Eli!_ " Risus's voice shouted out. He heard tiny footsteps as Risus rushed to his side.

Eli glanced up at the child, wide eyed.

"Eli." Kallus smirked, handing his scanner back to one of the nurses.

"So _that_ was your true name."

Agent Kallus made a slight motion with his hand, a small group of troopers stepping forward.

"Take him." Kallus ordered.

Two sets of arms grabbed Eli on either side, pulling him along as if he were a sack of flour.

"Stop it!" Risus cried.

He quickly ran up and tried to push the troopers away, only to be thrown onto the ground as well.

Kallus tilted his head slightly, processing a thought.

"Stop," Kallus lightly commanded just before the troopers could throw him across the courtyard.

Eli weakly eyed the man, ignoring the fiery burn in his side. It felt like he'd been lying on a bed of hot coals.

Everything seemed to pause. Even the nurses were hiding their breaths, at the tips of their toes.

"Take them both."

Swept off their feet, they both were quickly seized to be dragged back onto the ship.

As Eli was slowly dragged backwards, he saw Kallus turn to address the nurses.

"They're ready," He heard Kallus mutter nonchalantly.


	22. Eli's 'Procedure'

**Alright, so apparently it isn't a very good idea to procrastinate... I'll try and stop. Starting tomorrow.**

 **I know, you guys are probably really upset that I keep missing updates like I promised not to do... mainly because I've had _very_ important things to attend to. **

**Like,** **Lion King** **opening scene important, where all the animals had to attend.**

 ** _That's_ how important it was.**

 **Plus, I'M ALWAYS WORKING ON THE UPDATES. I'm starting to get a little annoyed with all the 'Why u no update?!' and 'Update update update!' I know I'm getting a little late, but I just don't want to cut down the quality for a speedy update.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

"I don't understand, Agent Kallus," A muffled voice echoed above the beeping.

"The procedure _should_ be active and successful by now."

There was a minute pause of silence.

"Perhaps you haven't been pushing the procedure enough."

Kallus's voice had a threatening loom to it.

"...Sir? I don't believe I follow."

"This boy is affiliated with the fugitive Jedi, and with him, his padawan," Kallus replied blatantly.

"It'll be our best interest to complete this as smoothly as possible. And that means _however_ necessary."

Eli felt some of his nerves come back to him.

Cold metal cuffs restrained his arms to either side as he tried to move, and there were tubes and strings and all sorts of medical stuff filling every corner of the room.

An IV was hooked up to him arm, right beneath where his chip was.

Somebody chuckled to his side.

"Looks like our little subject is awake," Kallus's blurry shape came into view.

Eli tried to scowl, but his face still felt asleep.

Kallus suddenly checked something on his datapad, keeping his face expressionless.

"Knock the boy back out," Kallus ordered.

"I have some _business_ to attend to elsewhere."

"Yes sir," The Imperial nodded, unhooking a tube from a machine.

There was a hissing of air as the Imperial moved to place a plastic mask over his face.

By now, Eli had fully regained his senses, jerking his head away from the mask.

"Hold still!" The Imperial grunted, grabbing Eli's head like he was a misbehaving horse.

Understandably, Eli did what any normal kid would do in this situation.

The Imperial immediately shot his hand back, swearing.

"You... you _bit_ me, you little-"

Before Eli could do anything more, there was a stab of a needle in his own neck.

Whatever it was, it made everything go limp again within seconds.

The Imperial sighed in relief.

"Finally," He said, his voice becoming all airy and echoey.

The faint outline of a plastic mask slowly showed itself.

Eli incoherently sputtered as the mask was strapped firmly to his face, and the knockout gas started to do its job.

As he faded again, he could've sworn that he could sense Ezra in that moment.

* * *

"You're crazy," Junjie stormed away as Ezra tried to follow.

"Absolutely insane."

"I'm telling the truth!" Ezra insisted, nearly tripping over himself just to keep up to Junjie's new speed.

"Why am I still _speaking_ to you?" Junjie rubbed at his temples with his fingers.

"Why are you still _here?_ I should be turning you in!"

Ezra took two huge strides and blocked off Junjie's path with an arm.

"Because you know that I'm right."

Junjie pursed his lips.

"Even if you are right about all this," Junjie muttered quietly, as if he were committing a crime.

"What would the Empire want with me and your brother, anyway?"

That's where Ezra was stuck.

"I- I don't know." He put up his hands in exasperation.

"But I can't just let both of you go. So help me or not, I'm taking you guys back."

Junjie could do nothing but stare.

"Alright," He sighed, closing his eyes.

"I'll try and _not_ get you killed. Just because you're the only one on this ship who knows who I was."

A silent beeping sound rang throughout the ship.

Ezra looked around in worry, but Junjie only yawned.

"It's just the call for lineup."

Junjie amicably slid on his cadet helmet, which was still very unsettling for Ezra to see.

It just... didn't look natural.

"We'll getting onto another ship," He said.

"That's most likely where they'll be preforming the procedures."

"Procedures?"

"Don't..." Junjie's gaze hardened at the mention of the word.

"...Please don't ask."

Ezra furrowed his brow.

He was going to question a little more when a wave of nausea pounded through his head, causing him keel over.

"Ugh..." There was a stinging in his head, and a sharp whistle screeched in his ear. It felt like someone was pressing hot coals against his head.

He felt like he was falling back to the planet headfirst.

Just for a second, he couldn't remember his own name. He didn't remember why he was on the ship, why he was in the rebellion, or why he still even wanted to _live_ , and-

"Ezra!" Junjie was hissing, shaking the boy back to reality.

"I'm- I'm okay now..." Ezra groaned.

Junjie held out a hand, and Ezra pulled himself up.

"I just... I felt Eli's presence. He's close, I just _know_ it..."

Junjie wasn't entirely convinced, but made no further questions.

The quiet beeping rang through the ship again, another reminder to meet up with the others.

"I'd better get suited up if I want to get out of here," said Ezra.

Junjie slowly nodded in agreement. Both boys darted down the hallway.

"But don't expect the suits to be clean."

* * *

All the cadets were lined up in a perfect line, like neatly arranged statues or dominoes standing in little rows, shoulder-to-shoulder.

Which was _way_ too organized for Ezra's taste.

Plus, it kinda was hard to breathe.

Junjie really wasn't joking when he said the suits weren't clean, it smelled worse than a sewer in this thing!

Trying not to gag, he watched as a stormtrooper walked down the line, checking each name in a datapad.

As soon as he got to Junjie, he stopped, scanning him up and down.

"Cadet," He said, as if expecting something.

Automatically, Junjie's arm went up, and Ezra watched in confusion as a small, thumb sized device scanned the length of his forearm.

It was over as soon as it started. Junjie nodded as the trooper continued on his way.

Then, it was Ezra's turn.

The well-dressed Imperial frowned, tapping the datapad's screen.

"You're not on the roster..." The Imperial muttered.

Ezra strengthened his gaze beneath the helmet, focusing on the Imperial as best as he could.

"I _am_ on the roster," Ezra said.

The stormtrooper stared at him for a few seconds.

"No, you aren't." The trooper had the wavering suspicion in his voice.

Ezra gulped.

Well, he was in trouble.

"He's one of the new ones, sir." Junjie quickly piped up.

"One of _us_."

The padawan couldn't help but frown.

It was almost sickening how official he sounded when he said it.

The trooper studied Ezra for a moment before reaching for his scanner.

Ezra's stomach tied itself into a knot.

"Well, cadet?" The trooper tilted his head forward.

Ezra reluctantly held out his arm just as Junjie did.

The scanner ran over Ezra's arm, beeping its response.

"Hmm." The stormtrooper tapped a few buttons on his datapad and nodded.

"Good to go," He said, putting the scanner back into the holster at his side.

Ezra choked down his surprise.

"Yes sir." Ezra sighed with relief.

The trooper turned his heel at the end of the too-straight line of cadets, motioning with his hand to move onwards.

And that's when he could sense Eli's pain.


	23. Reprogramming

**Alright, alright, so I've been pretty busy lately, so I've decided to stretch updates to both Saturday and Sunday, since one day isn't enough time to write anymore ;D. Just an attempt to get chapters out and avoid the constant update reviews.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Zeb banged his fist against the wall of the Phantom in frustration.

"He's taking way too long," He muttered, closing his eyes.

"We've got to get the others."

Trixie huffed, blowing a strand of hair off her face.

"This is the closest we've gotten to finding them," She said, annoyed.

"We don't even know where he is!" Zeb growled, letting his arms fall to his sides.

"One of us should've gone with him, at least!"

"Look, in his last comm he said he'd meet us here. It's better than flying blind, right?"

Zeb looked for an answer before shaking his head, sighing.

"Just want the kid to stop moping around."

Sabine suddenly perked up, shushing everyone.

"You do hear that?" She muttered under her breath.

Everyone stood still and quiet.

"Ships!" Sabine hissed.

"Get down!"

They all held their breaths, clutching at their weapons as the sound of the ships grew closer and closer.

"Maybe it's Ezra's ship?" Kord suggested.

Sabine shook her head.

"Uh-uh. Judging by how close they are, I don't think they're Imperials..."

A green little light activated on the Phantom's control panel, and a sighing hiss sounded throughout the ship.

"They've docked," Zeb scratched his head in confusion.

"They don't usually dock, do they?"

The door slid open behind them.

Everyone turned their heads to see two silhouetted figures in the doorway.

Sabine faked an awkward grin.

"Heeeeeey."

Kanan crossed his arms.

Hera had on her death face.

"What. Were. You. Guys. Thinking?!" Hera seethed, marching into the room.

"Sneaking out on the Phantom?! Again?!"

Zeb cleared his throat, stepping in front of the doorway,

"Hera, we can explain-"

Annoyed, Kanan brushed past him and took a step into the dim-lit ship, looking around.

"Where's Ezra?" He asked as calmly as he could.

Sabine bit down on her lip.

Chopper beeped smugly.

"You let him _what?!_ " Hera screamed.

"Chop!" Sabine glared at the droid angrily.

Chopper only laughed.

Kanan sighed, closing his eyes.

Hera immediately stopped her yelling.

"Hun.." Hera started, her anger diminishing.

"What?"

"Your nose. It's bleeding."

* * *

It felt like somebody had punched him a thousand times. With a rock. In the face. Hard.

Ezra struggled to stay within the perfect lines as he staggered. He felt his nose dripping, and he could taste salt in his mouth.

Gross.

But he needed this pain.

It was sick, but he needed it.

Needed it to find Eli.

He knew he was on this ship.

 _Knew_ it.

A stream of blood leaked out of his nose, but he resisted the urge to clean it up. He couldn't dare, unless he wanted to get caught.

After only a few minutes of walking, he thought he'd pass out from exhaustion. A stormtrooper looked his way.

"Everything alright, cadet?" The trooper asked, a hint of suspicion showing in his voice.

"Everything's fine, sir." Ezra forced himself to walk a little straighter, to blend in.

Suddenly, the whole line jumped at the sound of a scream ringing throughout the ship.

"What the-" One of the cadets muttered.

Out of the corner of Ezra's eye, he saw one nudge Junjie on the arm.

"Must be one've your test tube buddies," The cadet sniggered.

A couple of chuckles rose from the line.

Junjie tightened his fists, but kept silent as he let his gaze fall to the floor.

"That's enough!" A stormtrooper barked, only to be drowned out by another scream.

As the line gradually dispersed, Ezra saw his chance.

As soon as they both were hidden, he grabbed Junjie by the shoulder and ducked into the hallway.

Luckily, the cadets were too busy laughing to take notice.

"Guessing the others didn't take too kindly to you?" Ezra asked as soon it was safe.

Junjie removed his helmet, fixing his hair.

"They think it's all a big joke," He muttered, resting the helmet on his hip.

"Going through the procedure."

Ezra crossed his arms.

"You keep going on about this procedure," He pointed out.

"I know you don't want me asking, but-"

"It's what the Empire uses to push more people into the military," Junjie replied before he could finish his question.

"And no, before you ask, I don't remember anything."

Ezra felt a drop of blood leak through his helmet.

"What the..."

He slid off his helmet, and Junjie paled as he saw his face.

"You've been bleeding this whole time?"

"Only since we got into line."

"It's been twenty minutes since we got into line!"

"So twenty minutes, then."

Another scream.

"I really hope that's just someone who really sounds like Eli," Ezra whispered.

He quickly wiped his face before slipping the dingy helmet back on.

"Let's go!"

* * *

The closer he got to Eli, the worse the waves of nausea became.

Which was fine; Ezra was used to being sick back on Lothal.

What he didn't know was that illness was a billion times worse in space.

He stopped counting after he ran into a wall for the thirteenth time.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Junjie asked as Ezra recovered from his last wall hug.

"Last one, promise." Ezra groaned, lying through his teeth.

The yelling was on and off, endless at some points and silent at others.

Ezra peeked around the corner to see two soldiers standing guard at a door.

"If you're what you say you are, now'd be a good time to use your mind tricks." Junjie nodded his head towards the guards.

Ezra inhaled deeply in an attempt to steer away his dizziness, and hand up an arm.

A loud _clang_ in the opposite hall had the troopers at alert.

"What was that?"

 _Clang clang clang._

"Ugh, we'd better go check that out. Maybe one of those lab-rats are trying to escape."

As the footsteps disappeared, Ezra ran up to the cell, pressing a hand against the door.

"It's him," Ezra breathed.

Junjie nodded.

"Just so you know," Ezra said as he entered one of Sabine's overrides into the lock.

"You were a Jedi too."

Ezra prepared himself for a fight when the door opened up, but the room was completely empty.

Empty except for one.

"Eli?" He gasped.

Eli was in a worse condition than the last time they'd seen each other. His skin was ghost-pale, he was a still corpse on his deathbed. While he still breathed, faintly, he might as well have been good as gone.

"Please don't be dead, please don't be dead..." Ezra muttered, working to turn off the gas Eli had been breathing in.

Junjie stood silently by the door, helmet open to show his face.

"We'd better hurry," The cadet said quietly. Ezra acted as if he didn't hear.

"Eli!" He hissed, slapping at his twin's face in a lame attempt to wake him up.

"C'mon, wake up!"

The scariest thing about Eli had been his eyes. They were wide open, unblinking, as if they could see the whole galaxy burn. His expression was calm, a faraway trance as if he were totally fine.

Even if he were dying.

"He's in the reprogramming stage," Junjie muttered from the doorway.

Ezra felt his heart tighten in his chest.

"Reprogramming stage?"

"It's when..." Junjie struggled to let the words leave his mouth.

"It's when what?!"

"...It's when they start destroying memories. Every single one of them."


	24. Cutting the Ties

**Heyyyyy! Hope everyone had a very happy holiday!**

 **Alright, so here's where everything starts to get even more complicated than before. Can you guys guess what happens next?**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Kanan wiped off the trickle of blood from his nose, staring at the stain it left on his hand.

"Space sickness?" Zeb suggested.

The jedi swallowed, a tiny prickle of pain poking at his head.

"Ezra." He muttered, pressing a hand to his forehead. Kanan closed his eyes, letting the Force guide his judgement.

Zeb scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Same thing-"

"And Eli."

Hera's eyes suddenly widened.

"Are you sure?" Kord asked, a bit skeptical.

Kanan wasn't listening, pre-occupied with this new lead.

"We need to get the fleet out of here," He said at last, opening his eyes.

Sabine nearly choked on her own spit.

"You brought the fleet?!"

"Well, what else were we supposed to do?! Last time someone wandered off, they got dragged off to the Empire!"

"You'd better not be referring to Eli!" Trixie's hand immediately flew to her blaster.

There was a hiss as the door opened again.

"Are you all done?"

Ashoka's silhouette faded as she stepped into the light. She looked just as happy as everyone else in the room.

"Done with what?" Trixie's temper flared.

"Done wasting time when we could've been looking for everyone? Why don't we just-"

Sabine put both her arms in the air, abruptly shushing the conversation.

"Listen!" She hissed, tilting an ear into the air.

Everyone listened.

"The ships are already here," Hera muttered.

"How long do we have to get the whole fleet out of here?" Kanan asked.

"Not long enough."

A large shadow began to loom over the Phantom, blocking out the stars.

"Now what? They're already here!" Zeb waved an arm at the ship in disgust.

Kanan glanced down at the stain of blood left behind on his hand.

"I know this is ridiculous," He muttered.

"What was that?" Hera raised an eyebrow.

Kanan exhaled deeply.

"Remember that other plan we came up with a few days ago?"

Sabine pressed a finger to her lip in thought.

"The one with the power grid?"

"That's the one."

"What about it?"

Kanan brushed off the dried blood from his fingers, a brownish dust by now.

"We've got the fleet here already," Muttered the jedi contemplatively.

Ashoka raised an eyebrow.

Hera already knew where this was going.

"No," She replied firmly.

* * *

Junjie frowned at what little showed up from a screen.

Along with a spinning mini-model of Eli and his vital signs, a small profile blinked very meager signs of what the Empire had done to him.

"This doesn't make sense," He murmured as he tapped the screen, which refused to show anything useful.

"Why'd they just leave him unattended like this? They can't let the procedure fail, or he might not wake up again!"

Ezra had his back to the cadet, one hand resting on Eli's arm. He almost looked as though he were grieving his half-dead brother.

Junjie sensed his unease and cleared his throat.

"Sorry," Muttered the cadet.

"Bad habit of negativity."

The padawan didn't respond, staying almost as deathly still and quiet as his twin.

Junjie stopped his typing.

"Ezra?"

The boy raised his head slightly, exiting his sleep-like trance.

"He's been keeping something from me," Ezra said quietly.

Junjie couldn't help but note the tinge of sadness in his tone.

"What?" He asked.

"I noticed when he first came back," Ezra continued, eyes opening.

"I didn't really think anything of it, but..."

Junjie didn't have any idea what he was talking about, but he went along with it anyway.

"But?"

Ezra sighed, closing his eyes again.

This time, he let himself relax, letting the slight sway of the ship calm him down. He could envision all of Eli's memories, almost like little windows into his head.

The procedure had done a number on Eli's mind.

It was not, like Junjie had implied, a destructor of memories.

Instead, it put a dampener on all his senses, like a blindfold. Nothing got in, nothing got out.

He'd have to ask Junjie about that later.

Ezra swallowed, going over what little there was left.

There were good memories, like Eli riding with the Shane gang through Slugterra back on his planet, a small birthday party or two on the surface.

Ezra grinned when he stumbled upon a memory of him and Eli together, but felt his small burst of joy fade as the picture disappeared.

But then the fun memories led to the dark ones. A frozen mental picture of Eli dangling from a ledge over lava did look pretty terrifying.

He mentally battered away loose strands of long-forgotten or destroyed memories, and was just about to leave when something caught his attention.

Ezra's brow furrowed a bit, and he called the tiny window closer. It stubbornly resisted.

This one, unlike the others, was more hidden away than destroyed.

Ezra suddenly tensed up, pushing himself away from Eli.

The cadet jumped, startled.

"Ezra!"

Junjie grabbed him by the shoulder as Ezra grabbed at his head.

"What happened?!"

The padawan brushed off his hand with a grimace on his face.

"I should've known!" Ezra let his head fall into his hands.

"I should've known... why was I so _stupid?!_ "

Junjie perked up to the thump of boots in the hall.

"Keep it down-!" He hissed.

Ezra either didn't listen or didn't hear or didn't care.

"And you," Ezra lifted his head just enough for Junjie to meet his eyes.

"You knew! I saw him tell you!"

The footsteps were nearing closer, but Ezra wasn't getting any quieter. Junjie wasn't having any of it either.

"What are you even-"

"He told you about him, and he didn't even _try_ to tell me!"

The boots were about thirty paces away.

"Ezra-"

Ezra was on his feet, refusing to look at Junjie or Eli.

"But you don't remember a thing, do you?!" He spat.

Junjie struggled to find the words to tell him to calmly shut up.

The boots were twenty paces away, and sounded like they were picking up speed.

"He was probably going to tell you," Junjie raised his voice to get over Ezra's.

Ten paces.

"He. Is. Your. Brother-!"

Five paces-!

"No," Ezra let his head down once more, shielding his eyes.

Boots right beside the door!

"He's not."

Both boys froze as the whole ship shuddered from the impact of a cannon.


	25. Blindsided

**Nope. Nope nope nope. I keep missing updates, and that's not okay. *looks over** **document* This isn't right... *Delete* *Tippity-tap* This isn't right either. *Delete* *Tippity-tap* Grrrrr! *Delete***

 **Literally the last few weeks.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Eli jerked awake, gasping for air.

At least, it felt like he was awake.

"Wha..." He slurred drowsily, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.

He drowsily looked around.

No, not awake.

Not asleep, either. No time for that.

There was a numbness in his movements, one he couldn't get used to. It didn't help at all that it felt like a giant hand was holding his head underwater.

He looked down at his hands, curling and stretching his fingers.

State of mind was a very fluid concept right about now.

"Alright," He said, shaken. He took deep breaths to calm his nerves.

"My name... Eli- no... I mean, _yes._ "

His voice echoed in the endless void.

It was more of a little landscape surrounded by stars poking through the sky. Tiny mushrooms also sprouted on the ground - was it really ground? - which he stood.

Peaceful, to say the least.

"Eli Shane," He echoed, rubbing at his head. He knew the name; it was his.

And yet it felt so alien to him.

"Eli Shane, Eli Shane, Eli Shane..." He repeated over and over again.

It was really hard to grasp the words, until he remembered it was his name.

Eli inhaled deeply his nose wrinkling at a wavering smell of bleach and chemicals.

He glanced up and around again at his surroundings.

If he took about five steps in any direction, there was a one-way drop down into infinity. It wasn't like he was going anywhere, anyway.

Eli searched around for a pebble or something to kick over the edge. There were none.

As he leaned over the endless drop, Eli felt a cold breeze chill through the air and down his spine.

 _Stay._

Eli's eyes widened at the sudden voice in his head. There wasn't anyone else he could see, not that he knew of.

"Who's there?" He called out. Not that it made much of a difference. The voice was nonexistent, and this whole place was simply a facade.

But oddly enough, he wanted to hear more.

 _Stay,_ The sultry voice instructed.

 _This is a recorded military message. Remain dormant until further orders are issued._

Eli frowned at the word 'orders' _._

If he didn't know any better, he would've considered jumping off the island.

But he didn't.

"Uh... okay then."

Eli reluctantly sat cross-legged onto the tiny mass of land. He leaned back on his hands. The ground was cold to his touch, almost like metal.

Curious, he plucked a blade of grass from the ground, rubbing it against his hand. No grass stain was left behind.

He let the blade flutter off the island, watching it drift until it was gone in the abyss.

He could've just stood back up again, could've tried to figure out how to wake up.

But he just... didn't. There was something impelling him to listen to the mysterious voice.

To obey.

Eli hugged his knees to his chest, sighing. Something about his surroundings calmed him, urged him to rest.

"My name is..."

* * *

It was a blast that rocked the whole ship. As the ground shuddered and rumbled, the liquid-filled jars piled on the shelved exploded on impact. Junjie and Ezra had little time to shield themselves from flying glass.

"Agh!" Ezra cried out, his hands flying straight to his eye.

"It burns...!"

Another blast rocked the ship, this one even stronger; it rolled through the ground and sent thunder through Ezra's chest.

Eli, loosened from his restraints, rolled onto the ground with a thud.

Not surprisingly, he didn't stir. But now his eyes were shut.

Junjie cringed as his back was pricked by glass scattered onto the ground.

"We should really get out of here!" Junjie shouted.

"Right," Ezra said sarcastically through clenched teeth, rubbing at his eyes vigorously.

The nausea made the stinging ten times worse; he could hardly feel his own face, which burned like salt and acid.

A thunderous crash sent shockwaves rolling through the floors, sending sparks out of lights and all other sorts.

Ezra shook his head, his knees made of rubber as he staggered his way to the door.

"Where is it?" He growled, running his hands on the cold metal wall.

"Where's what?"

"The button!" Ezra shouted, repeatedly smacking the wall with his hands.

"I can't find the stupid button!"

He heard Junjie pause, leaving the rumbles of the ship in the air.

"It's right in front of you." Junjie deadpanned.

Ezra stopped. He glanced down at his hands, examining them on each side.

"What now?" Junjie sighed, almost irritably.

Although Ezra didn't know him for long, he knew this was far from his normal self.

Ezra turned his hands over, as if he couldn't tell if they were there.

"I... can't see anything."

He heard Junjie go quiet again. There was the slight clinking and scraping of glass on the ground beside him.

"It's some kind of anesthetic, I believe." Junjie muttered, holding a shard up to the light.

The glass was dripping with a clear, syrupy solution.

"I've seen huge crates of these bottles shipped in by the dozen."

"Great," Ezra gritted his teeth. His hands were rubbing at his eyes so hard that they started to burn.

"This day just keeps getting better and better, huh?"

Junjie cleared his throat.

"I'm... over here."

Ezra didn't bother turning to face the right way. Everything looked all fuzzy, you couldn't tell one thing from another.

After a few more tries, he finally found the button. The door hissed open.

Something outside screeched in alarm.

Ezra heard something whizz past his ear before _boom_ , a large scrap of metal clattered to the ground.

"What was that?!" Ezra panicked.

Junjie slowly lowered Ezra's blaster, turning it over in his hands.

"Fell out of your armor," He explained.

"The droid would've alerted security if I didn't take it."

He handed the blaster back to Ezra, who sloppily slid it back into it's hiding place.

Ezra touched a hand to his ear. A minuscule scorch mark was left on his ear where the shot had grazed him.

"Thanks," Ezra muttered, trying hard not to sound ungrateful.

"Can we go now?"

"Just a problem..."

Junjie jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, towards Eli. Which wasn't very helpful, seeing as Ezra was blinded.

He got the message anyway.

As Ezra took a step towards the door, he felt his foot brush against the dead droid at his feet. He tried to use the Force instead of his eyes to observe the droid's size and condition.

Broken, but still somewhat functional.

"Do they teach you to fix droids up here?"

* * *

"This is a horrible idea," Junjie grumbled from under his helmet.

Ezra pretended he didn't hear him, clutching onto the droid which trundled on beside them.

"Just be glad we ditched the lab before anyone else saw us there."

The ship rumbled again, and Ezra fell flat on his face. The droid fell onto its side, giving a muffled _clang_ as it hit the ground. Junjie sighed.

"Sorry," He whispered apologetically, setting the droid upright again.

Ezra slowly got to his feet, dusting off his cadet armor.

"This has got to be some kind of deliberate attack," Junjie muttered.

"Maybe your friends are here to pick you up?"

Ezra shrugged and started pushing the hollow droid along again.

"Hope so."

Junjie suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Did you feel that?" He hissed, grabbing Ezra by the shoulder.

Ezra nodded, trying to see with the Force instead of his eyes.

"Get down," He muttered.

"What?"

"Get down! Now!"

A big burst of light knocked both cadets off their feet, and the droid toppled over again.

"What the-?!" Junjie gaped at what he saw.

"What?" Ezra groaned, wishing he could see what was happening.

" _AHHHHHHHHH-_ Oh." A familiar voice stopped it's shrieking.

"Um... hello."

"Pronto?!" Ezra said in surprise, recognizing his voice immediately.

Pronto sputtered, jumping to his feet.

"W- who's asking, mister tiny little gun man?!"

Ezra and Junjie both slid open their helmets. Pronto gasped.

"Junjie! Eli! Tiny robot!" Pronto cried. He zipped his way up to them, waving his arms.

"It's really you! I was so worried when you guys just _poofed_ away!"

Pronto squealed as he gave one huge group hug. Junjie promptly wriggled his way out.

"Do I know him?" Junjie whisper-yelled.

Ezra brushed a bit of hair off his face. He nodded.

The molenoid came nose-to-nose with Ezra, studying his half-bloodied face.

"Something looks different about you Eli..." He mused.

"New haircut?"

Ezra cleared his throat.

"No Pronto, it- it's Ezra. Remember?"

It took a few seconds for Pronto to process.

"Ohhhhh, Eli's brother!" Pronto laughed nervously, twiddling his fingers.

"Right, cause you guys look _soooo_ alike!"

A walls gave a heaving groanmade the hairs on Ezra's neck stand up.

"Please tell me they're here," He groaned.

Pronto's eyes rolled back and forth awkwardly.

"Who?" He asked.

"The giant ship up there that happens to look just like yours?"

Ezra whipped up his head.

"Where?" He hissed, hating how desperate he sounded.

"Like that one." Pronto pointed out the nearest window.

"The one that's shooting at the tiny ships, with the nice green lady driving it."

Ezra blinked.

"Hera!"

He shot an annoyed look at Junjie. Or in his general direction, anyway.

"How long has that been there?" He demanded, not minding the forcefulness in his voice.

Junjie cleared his throat, glancing up as the Ghost shot down a couple tie-fighters.

"Not long." His eyebrows went up as a piece of flying space debris nearly missed the ship they stood on.

"They just got here, I'm guessing."

Ezra groaned.

He whipped his head towards the window. If he squinted reeeeeal hard, he could make out a fuzzy grey blob dancing around the sky. He could've sworn he'd seen a teeny, tiny green dot flash on the surface.

"They're here!" He groaned, cursing himself for his stupidity.

"I'm... so dead."

A door at the end of the hall slid open. Ezra made out footsteps from behind.

"Dead?" A voice said, chuckling.

"Kid, you're gonna get a whole lot worse than that if you keep running off!"

Ezra screwed up his eyes in the light.

"Rex?!" He shouted in surprise.


	26. Awakening

**Alright, I know that I'm late. Again. Times are changing, so I can't update once a week as I used to. Buuuuuuut, I do have a little something planned in the future...**

 **Not gonna tell you, though!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Eli was bored out of his mind.

"...my name is Eli Shane, my name is Eli Shane, my name is Eli- ugh..."

He cupped his hands over his ears, starting to become sick of the name.

 _Eli Shane._

Eli lifted his head, an ear to the wind. He was pretty positive that he hadn't said his name again.

 _Surprised?_ The voice said, amused.

The voice wasn't the official whispers of before, strict with order and discipline.

This one seemed... familiar. More friendly, almost.

"Hello?" He called out to the open air. There was a chill to the air, sending prickles down his arms.

Not that he could actually feel his arms.

"Who's there?" He demanded.

A subtle breeze started up; Eli had to squint to keep his eyes from tearing up in the cold.

 _You don't remember me?_

The young voice laughed.

 _I remember you._

Eli perked up.

"You knew me?" Eli cringed at how desperate he sounded.

There was a pause.

 _'Course,_ He replied.

 _How_ _else?_

Eli swallowed uneasily.

"Something doesn't feel right..." He muttered out loud.

The voice snickered, not unkindly.

 _Obviously,_ He scoffed.

Eli felt the breeze graze his neck, as if the voice were breathing behind him.

 _...You're not even awake._

Eli blinked, inhaling in more of the awful bleach-smell.

It felt like he were breathing in thousands of tiny bees, pouring in through his nose and mouth and buzzing around in his lungs.

He probably could've guessed on his own, but it had certainly felt very real.

 _Y'know..._

The cold shifted itself, so that it blew onto Eli's face.

 _I could help you out of here._

Eli cocked his head to the side, furrowing his brow.

"You can?"

The voice chuckled. This were all a game to him.

 _Do you trust me, Eli?_

The Shane shifted uneasily, the cold stinging onto his face.

"...Not really." He replied lamely, brushing strands of hair out of his eyes.

 _Good choice._

Invisible arms wrapped around Eli, pulling him onto his feet.

 _Of course,_ The voice lingered, pleased with the situation.

 _I'll need something from you._

Eli shrank from the cool air, hugging his arms.

"Fine," He shivered, seeing his own breath fogging the air.

"W-what do you want?" A tiny white speck clung to his hair. Then, another.

Freezing, Eli held a hand out to the air.

Fresh snowflakes.

A light snowfall had started in his mental world.

 _What do_ I _want?_ The voice laughed.

Another foggy breath appeared by Eli's side. An invisible being- no, person was talking to him.

A few snowflakes clumped together in the air, lightly sculpting out an icy glove, floating in the air.

The hand held itself out, beckoning for Eli to take it.

 _Your trust._

Eli swallowed, shivering in his boots. He couldn't imagine how vulnerable he looked in the invisible person's eyes.

"Deal." He said, closing his eyes submissively.

Eli reached out, shaking hands with the invisible man.

The hand dispersed as soon as Eli relaxed his grip, fizzling nothing more but a fine, white powder.

All at once, the island, the snow, the voices, everything; it all became nothing more but a lightheaded dream.

Eli suddenly felt very ill, sinking to the ground on his hands and knees. Even the grass on which he stood had quickly died.

"What..." Eli wheezed, dizzy with nausea and fatigue.

It was harder to breathe.

"...did... you... do..?"

But the voice was gone.

All that was left of him was the cold wind.

* * *

Rex quickly glanced both ways down the hallway before pulling them into a nearby room.

"What are you doing here?!" Ezra had an iron grip on the Imperial droid he was holding.

Rex chuckled, as if the answer were obvious.

"Your crew ain't exactly the negotiating type," He laughed, opening up a tiny panel in the wall.

"Kanan'll be down here any minute now..."

Ezra didn't know how to feel about that.

"For what?" Junjie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rex gave a half-hearted shrug. He plugged a fist-sized device into the wall, which immediately lit up and began pulsing with light.

"There," He said triumphantly, stepping back to admire his work.

"Now we just need to wait for-"

 _Clang._

Ezra jumped as he felt the droid tumble onto its side.

"Uhhh..."

Pronto poked at the droid with his foot. There was muffled banging \ and shouting from the inside.

"...Is it supposed to do that?"

Ezra's eyes widened.

"Quick, get it open!"

"What?" Rex stared as the droid began to shake.

"Just-"

 _Crack!_

The lid of the droid popped off, rolling across the floor.

A body rolled out, wheezing for air.

Pronto stared at the boy, dumbfounded.

"Did... Eli just hatch out of a metal egg?"

Eli ran his hands over the ground, his eyes adjusting to the new light.

Junjie carefully knelt down beside Eli as he became familiar to his surroundings.

Eli rubbed at his head, groaning.

"Where..." He stared around the room dizzily.

Something about Eli twitched at Ezra's senses, filling him with a sense of dread.

Ezra cleared his throat.

"Hey-"

Halfway through his first word, Eli's eyes lit up as he saw Ezra.

And then he tackled him.

* * *

A tiny blip blinked to life on a pitch black screen against a faint outline of a ship.

Twist leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"I don't understand why I can't just do it myself," He muttered bitterly, eyes flashing in the darkness of the room.

A tall, slender woman tapped something on the board's panel, and hundreds of other blips flickered to life.

For every flash of every blip, their hearts was beating at the same pace.

Much easier to track soldiers that way.

"You lack patience," She murmured.

"I thought we had that fixed in your last reset."

Twist glared at the woman.

"You can't speak to me like that. I did what you asked, I woke him up."

The woman chuckled, her face showing from the light on the screen.

She wasn't anything remarkable; her eyes were small with dark circles beneath her eyes, her thin and straw-like hair pulled back in a bun.

Then again, her different colored eyes did have a frightening effect on people.

"The Empire gave me special jurisdiction over this project. I'd expected you'd understand that the most."

With a wave of a hand, the holograms and blips were shrunken down to size and sent into a database to be processed.

Twist huffed.

"I'm not some lab rat you can test on," He said, his voice losing confidence.

"Maybe I'll just leave, go back to where I came from."

"And where's that?" The scientist said sweetly.

Twist's eyes flickered with rage, then defeat.

"That's what I thought."

The woman reached into her pocket and fished something out.

"I think it's about time for another reset, don't you?"

A sickening feeling fell over Twist.

"I don't want another reset," He muttered, refusing to meet the scientist's eyes.

The woman rose to her full height, her gaze like daggers.

"Wicked boy," She hissed, towering over Twist.

"You don't have a choice."

The boy hardened his gaze. Reluctantly, he held out his arm to be scanned.


	27. Induratize

**Meow.**

 **It's been weeks since my last update. Sue me.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Pronto screamed. Rex immediately drew his gun, aiming for Eli's head.

Ezra blindly flailed up his hands in defense, feeling hands wrapping around his throat. Eli's fingers were dusted in spots of dried up blood.

"Eli, what's wrong with you?!" He yelled, trying to wrench the hands off.

Eli didn't react, as if he weren't even listening.

"I knew this would happen," Junjie muttered angrily under his breath.

"I should've known..."

Prying Eli's arms away, he tore the delirious boy off of Ezra and locked an arm around his head.

"That's enough!" He snapped, keeping Eli trapped in somewhat of a headlock.

Eli struggled, clawing at Junjie's arms.

"Let me go," He snarled, trying to jerk himself free.

Rex nonchalantly pointed towards Eli with his gun.

"Who's this, then?"

Ezra coughed a few times, trying to reconnect his brain.

"He's... my brother."

Rex blinked.

"You have a brother?" He chuckled softly.

"And you stuffed your brother into a droid?"

"Well, we couldn't just leave him there."

Junjie squirmed to keep Eli restrained.

Rex sighed. He reluctantly lowered his weapon.

"Why'd he attack you, then?"

Eli started shouting again, but Junjie clasped a hand around his mouth. It was essentially like trying to wrestle with a feral animal.

As much as he hated to think about it, he didn't know.

Ezra ran his fingertips over the scratches on his own neck, swallowing his pride.

"The procedure probably did something to him," said Junjie. His voice wavered with angst.

"Something must've gone wrong."

Junjie's eye twitched as Eli elbowed him in the stomach.

"Or right!" He grunted painfully.

"I could use a little help..."

Ezra sighed. Taking off his pack, he blindly rustled through its contents until his hand brushed up against a snoring slug.

Ezra figured it was Cor; he slept even more than Aliit did.

"Hey, wake up." Ezra held the slug in his hands.

Cor peeked an eye open, rubbing it's eyes.

"Could you keep Eli on ice for me?" Ezra nodded his head towards Eli, who was

Cor yawned, shook off the rest of his sleep, and saluted.

The slug hopped over towards Eli and, by the time he was finished, left Eli up to his mouth in ice.

"Whew." Junjie sorely rubbed at his arms, now covered in scratches.

"Your brother has... very sharp nails."

Eli finally tired enough to stop struggling, but he glared around at his surroundings.

He couldn't see, but Ezra could sense Eli's piercing gaze on him. There was a completely different person in there.

It sent ice down his spine.

"What did the Empire do to him?" He asked softly.

Junjie shifted uncomfortably.

"The same thing they do to all of us."

Ezra furrowed his brow.

"So... the Empire's controlling him?"

Junjie shrugged. Ezra swore he saw a flicker of emotion in Eli's eyes.

"In a way, yes. They do it to all of us."

Ezra raised a brow in suspicion.

"And you?"

Junjie cleared his throat. He pointed at a tiny tear in his sleeve, dotted with blood.

"Something happened," Said Junjie, scratching his neck.

"I burnt out my chip somehow. You could say that I'm broken."

Ezra sighed.

"And Eli..."

Rex suddenly called out in alarm, shutting the door.

"What is it?" Ezra uncrossed his arms, standing up a little straighter.

"Stormtroopers," Rex muttered, readying his gun.

"On their way."

"Wh- how?!" Ezra sputtered.

Junjie's eyes widened. He looked over his shoulder towards Eli, and was met with a steely gaze.

Although he was half-frozen, Eli seemed very pleased with himself.

Through the ice, a teeny tiny blinking light was coming from Eli's arm.

"He activated his chip," Junjie realized.

Ezra glanced over at his brother in shock, only to remember that he was blind.

"Eli ratted us out," Ezra muttered, cursing himself.

"We've got to find a way off this stupid ship!"

A ghouled Rammstone bashed its way through the door, only barely missing Ezra's head. Three slug troopers barreled into the room.

"Hold it right there!" One barked, raising his blaster.

Rex raised his hands, dropping his weapon.

"Rex-!"

"Just go with it," Whispered Rex, keeping his hands up.

Ezra glanced at him.

"What are you-?"

"Do as I say." Rex muttered gruffly.

Reluctantly, the group slowly put up their hands.

"Three... two..." Rex counted down slowly.

The slug trooper cocked his head.

"What?"

 _Bang, bang, bang!_

Three shots went off, sending the troopers sprawled onto the floor.

"One," Kanan finished humorously, holstering his blaster to his side.

"Kanan!" Ezra beamed. Kanan didn't seem as thrilled.

"Ezra, how many times are you going to run off without us knowing?!" Kanan rubbed at his temples. Ezra chuckled nervously.

"Yeeeeah..." Ezra tapped his fingers together.

But Kanan was just warming up.

"Hera's out there breaking her neck with about fifty different types of who-knows-what, and..." The jedi trailed off as he observed Ezra's face more closely.

"Ezra... what's wrong with your eyes?"

The padawan gulped.

"Funny story..." He began, hoping that Kanan's fuzzy blob wasn't as serious as it looked.

"Long story short, I'm _kind_ -of-sort-of-maybe blind."

"Blind?!"

"B-but we can fix it! As... soon as Eli stops trying to kill me..."

Kanan furrowed his brow.

"What-"

Ezra quickly changed the subject.

"Rex, is whatever you're doing ready yet?"

Rex nodded, tapping the device in the wall.

"Good," Kanan sighed, setting the topic aside.

"We'll finish this once we're all out of here."

The ship walls let out another moan, as if they couldn't take being hit.

Ezra glanced back at Eli one last time. There was a chill in his spine whenever he looked his way.

"We're gonna need to find a big crate."

* * *

"I... can't believe we found a big crate."

"I can't believe how flexible Eli is."

"I can't believe I have to sit in one too," Pronto muttered, his nose poking out of a crate lid.

Junjie quickly pushed Pronto back down, shushing him.

Ezra had to keep his hands gripped on the crates to avoid falling behind.

Now that Eli was thawed out, he was making a huge racket inside the crate; he started yelling and hitting the metal sides.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?!" He shouted as he ran to keep up.

"I'm not sure anything's gonna w- whoa!" Kanan skidded to a stop just in time to avoid hitting a child standing in the hallway.

Instinctively, Ezra reached for his lightsaber.

The child gasped, hugging his arms to himself.

"Please don't hurt me!" The child begged, falling backwards onto the floor.

"I know I'm not supposed to be out and I know that I punched that one guy in the face and please don't hurt me I won't do it again and-"

"Wait, wait, calm down!" Kanan nudged Ezra, and he reluctantly took his hand off his weapon.

The boy blinked. Recognition flickered in his eyes.

"Eli?"

Ezra blinked in surprise. For a moment, he felt Eli stop banging his fist against the walls of the crate.

"I'm not... how did you...?"

"He's a cadet," Rex cut Ezra off.

"Look, he's got one of those chips in his arm."

The boy hugged his arm to his chest, trying to hide his chip. His eyes glazed over again.

"You're scaring him," Junjie hissed.

He hastily pushed his gun into Rex's arms to hold, kneeling down to the boy's height.

"What's your name?" He asked, kneeling down to the boy's height.

The child sniffed, hugging his arms even tighter.

"Risus," He whimpered.

Eli had completely settled down in his crate, making Ezra a little anxious. He was convinced that silence wasn't a good thing.

"Risus," Junjie echoed quietly.

"Have I heard..." He quickly shook the thought away.

"...Could I see your arm?"

Risus shook his head, backing away.

"Just for a second," Junjie promised.

"I won't do anything harsh."

The boy slowly held out his arm, Junjie turning it over as gently as possible.

Eli's crate jolted slightly, kicking up the lid. Kanan slammed an arm down on the lid, struggling with each jolt of the box.

"We don't have time for this," Kanan muttered.

"Sounds like Eli wants out."

"Just a second."

Junjie, closed his eyes, exhaling.

He turned again, his eyes searching for something.

"Forgive me," He said to the boy. Junjie took the arm in his hands and tightly pinched the skin of his forearm.

Risus squeaked, ripping his arm out of his grip. There was a fresh, reddening bruise where Junjie had pinched.

"Sorry!" Junjie stood up, glancing back at the hall behind him.

Ezra heard the boy scuttle back a few steps, sniffling.

The whimpers left a bitter taste in Ezra's mouth.

"What did you do?" Ezra irritably pulled back on Junjie's shoulder.

"Destroying our chips."

Junjie pinched down on his own arm, with a barely audible _crack._

"Just in case."

Kanan was half hugging the crate down, Eli's kicks becoming harsher.

"Hey, could you keep it down, Eli?!" Pronto poked his nose out of his crate.

"Pronto's _trying_ to keep comfy here!"

Risus's eyes lit up at the sound of Eli's name.

"Eli's in there?!" He gasped eagerly.

Ezra cocked his head to the side.

"How do you know Eli?"

Before Risus could respond, he was interrupted by silence.

The rustling in Eli's crate had stopped altogether.

Ezra felt something stir in his veins, but nothing happened.

"Alright..." Kanan sighed, relaxing.

"Now, we need to-"

Ezra jumped at the sound of a loud _clang_ ringing in his ears.

* * *

The metallic stench in the cramped box was enough to make a man throw up.

From the way he was stuffed in the crate, Eli had to keep his knees out of his hair.

Which you could never really understand unless you've actually had to do it.

Still, it was a much better fit than the droid.

"Really...?" Eli huffed through chattering teeth, still cold from the melted ice.

Eli banged at the crate walls a couple thousand more times until his fist got tired. He could hear muffled conversation outside the crate.

Curious, he pressed an ear up to the wall.

That boy he had tackled, he was talking.

Eli felt his gut tie into a knot. The voices in his head kept telling him he was the enemy.

They were still telling him that he was the enemy.

Eli frowned, listening more intently. It was hard to make out words over the whispers in his own head.

But he knew these people.

Eli groaned as a flash migraine seared his head.

"No, I don't," He muttered to himself angrily.

A child's cry startled Eli, hitting his head against the roof is surprise.

He was sure he knew that voice.

Painful prickles spread through his head again.

 _I've got to get outta here,_ Eli thought suddenly, gritting his teeth.

 _These people... they're messing with my head._

Eli squinted at the crack of light from the lid. If he could just get a solid kick...

Using both legs, he slammed at the metal lid.

* * *

"What the-?!" Kanan shouted, jumping out of the way of the giant lid.

The force of Eli's kick knocked the crate onto its side. Eli rolled onto the floor, squinting in the new light.

Ezra felt a tinge of fear in his stomach, still imagining the hands around his neck.

Eli cracked something in his neck, glancing around.

"Eli?" Risus gasped at the sight of him.

Eli turned to meet the boy's eyes, and paused. He scanned the boy up and down, trying to find something recognizable.

Ezra felt the same feeling in his veins again. Healing.

"Be still, Eli." Junjie said calmly, letting his hand off his weapon.

"We do not wish to harm you."

Eli glanced over at Ezra, sending a sick thought into Ezra's head.

"He's not even listening," Ezra muttered to himself, sensing Eli's presence.

"Can he even hear us?"

Eli took a step towards Ezra, as if to attack him again.

"Eli, don't!" Junjie snapped, reaching for his gun again.

"That's an order."

Eli blinked again, stopping in place.

Ezra held his breath. There was that feeling again, the healing in his veins.

He wondered if the real Eli was doing this.

"I have to go," He heard Eli mutter to himself under his breath.

Without much warning, Eli took off down the hall, back towards the cells.

"Eli, wait!" Ezra yelled, tracking his movements.

As he left, he accidentally let a green spark fly from his fingers.

"Ack!" Junjie cried out as the stray spark struck him in the head.

He let his weapon drop as he collapsed onto his side, unconscious.


	28. Release The Rats

**Boop.**

 **Enjoy the-**

 **No, y'know what? You enjoy the chapter it you feel like enjoying the chapter, okay?**

 **Good. Bye.**

* * *

The scientist leaned back in her chair, boringly pulling pale strands of hair out of her face.

Her eyes were glued onto the wide screen of tiny blips flashing before her, but she was barely paying attention.

"Kara is running around in circles again," She sighed through the comm, picking at some grit between her nails.

"I recommend removal of the legs if this issue isn't removed."

With a small flick of the switch, the child's blip immediately froze.

"Much better." She breathed.

The woman rapped her fingers against the control panel with one hand and rubbed at her temples with the other.

The actual lab rats were easier to control than these children.

The subjects that didn't go completely insane were either comatose or had more control over themselves than she'd prefer.

She also friggin' hated kids.

Kara's blip slowly began to move, presumably meaning she was conscious once more. The scientist nonchalantly flicked the same switch again, and the moving stopped.

She slumped in her poorly designed chair, which was giving her a backache.

Nobody had warned her how _boring_ her assignment would be.

"Hmm?" The woman's ears perked up at the sound of faint beeping.

A couple taps let her zoom into the ship's interface.

One blip was out of their cell.

She flicked away a speck of dirt under her fingernail.

"Ooh. Fun."

Nothing interesting ever really happened (the problems of a perfect system), so this was an interesting change.

"Let's see where you're headed..." She mumbled as she tapped a few keys.

The map zoomed into an outline of the hallways. There were no escape routes in that hallway, and there wasn't an escape pod nearby on the ship.

The boy was... headed right back to his cell.

Which was honestly a good thing, but still fairly disappointing.

"Oh come on, don't be boring!" She half-shouted. A couple stormtroopers passing outside glanced at each other, walking a little faster.

The scientist straightened up in her seat, flicking a switch.

This ought to be entertaining.

* * *

The hallways were horribly made, in Ezra's opinion. Everything was so symmetrical, too perfect, everything was exactly the same. Running through them would basically be like entering a maze.

The only problem was, Eli somehow knew the schematics like the back of his hand. And there was the fact that Ezra was running blind. Literally.

"When the heck did he get so fast?!" Ezra muttered, cursing the fuzzy blobs that clouded together in his view.

Eli wasn't running away. Eli was full-on sprinting. Ezra began to wonder what kind of stuff the Empire but into their home-made soldiers.

Ezra huffed, feeling his muscles starting to tire already.

The fuzzy, blue-haired blob suddenly disappeared from Ezra's blurred vision. Ezra groaned.

"Which way did he go?" He muttered out loud to himself, keeping his pace.

To his surprise, a chirp came from his left. Aliit.

"Left?" He asked.

Aliit chirruped again.

"Alright."

Ezra skidded to turn, recovering before Eli got too far.

"Eli!" He shouted, rasping for air.

Eli glanced back once, seeming surprised to hear his name, then ran even faster.

Ezra groaned.

If he could just catch up to Eli, then he could just set him straight, take him back, pretend nothing had happened.

But Eli didn't really seem to be cooperating.

The peculiar thing was, unlike before, Eli wasn't trying to protect himself, or even fight.

He was trying to get away.

Ezra swallowed another breath, his lungs burning like fire.

"Eli!" He shouted again.

* * *

 _Get away, get away, get away, get away, get away..._

Eli felt every voice in his head whispering ten thousand stupid ideas at once, only to be flattened by the wind in his ears.

Everything he felt just made him want to run faster.

Not run away, but just run.

"Eli!" His pursuer called out.

Eli nearly tripped over himself out of surprise.

An angry feeling crossed his mind, and he quickly shook off the thought.

 _That's irrelevant._

His mind was already swarming with a thousand little questions and thoughts that would never be answered, he didn't have time for another one.

He turned another corner, and the boy followed right behind.

The footsteps behind him were getting louder, but his chaser was getting slower.

Eli hurdled over a passing escort droid, which let out a robotic scream as the pursuer knocked it aside.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Ezra shouted over his shoulder.

Eli frantically scanned his mind for directions to his cell. A map of the ship was perfectly imprinted into his brain, allowing him to navigate easily.

Five more hallways to go.

He needed to be in his cell. He needed a few hours alone, even just to clear his head.

As far as he knew, this person was unarmed. He could easily take him down now.

Eli felt a shudder down his spine.

His pursuer was getting closer, so close Eli could hear him breathing.

"Eli, wait-!" Ezra shouted, squinting to get Eli in full view.

Two hallways. Half a hallway. Ten rooms.

"Y'now," Eli chuckled a bit between breaths, fatigue setting into his arms and legs.

"It'll be... a lot easier... to run away... if you stopped... chasing me..."

Eli glanced behind him, and his grin came right off.

"...What in the...?"

Eli dug his heels into the ground, glancing side to side.

His pursuer was nowhere to be seen, basically vanishing into thin air.

"Huh." Eli lowered his stance, wrinkling his nose.

Usually, he hated talking to himself, since there were already, like, five other voices in his head, but he reasoned with himself that he was better company than... _him_.

Eli let his arms fall to his side, scratching his head.

"Either I'm hallucinating... or... he teleported?"

Eli swallowed a big breath.

"Just sleep on it..." He told himself, beginning to walk to his cell.

"Sleeping on it fixes everything..."

He quickly ate those words, cause as soon as he turned the corner, a flying shape flew down from the ceiling, knocking the wind out of him.

Ezra landed perfectly on his feet, brushing the dust off his arms. He took the liberty of a tiny fist bump with his slugs, just for fun.

"Well, I did stop chasing you," Ezra chuckled, running a hand through his hair.

"...Although you are freakishly fast now, which probably should be a bad thing."

Ezra squinted, taking a minute for his eyes to re-adjust.

"Anyway, Kanan should catch up any second now, _aaand_ you are a little heavy, so if you aren't gonna cooperate I'll have to drag you by your- um... Eli?"

Ezra stopped talking and glanced back down at Eli.

It was hard to tell with all the cloudiness, but Eli wasn't moving. It was hard to tell if he was still awake.

"Eli?" He said again, poking the boy with a foot.

" _Eeeeeeliii?_ " He repeated in a slow, comically drawn-out manner. This time he tried gently shaking him awake, and then _not-so_ -gently shaking him awake after he didn't wake up the first time.

"Alright, don't freak out," Ezra muttered to himself, easing out a breath.

"...Maybe it's a good thing. He can't strangle me when he's not awake."

Aliit leaped off Ezra's shoulder onto Eli's chest, then hopped his way onto his forehead. Eli's eyes were wide open, and stared at the slug hopping on his forehead.

He _was_ awake.

"Eli?" Ezra squinted, trying to focus on his brother.

Eli's eyes looked at him, but he couldn't respond. Ezra realized that Eli was paralyzed, or at least temporarily. Eli couldn't even blink.

He just kept repeatedly glancing his eyes down at his arm, trying to say something.

"What the..."

In the fogginess of his vision, a tiny light was blinking.

The chip.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ezra hissed.

But this time, it was different.

Ezra heard hundreds- no, _thousands_ of distinctive hisses.

He recognized the sound - the sound of thousands of cell doors opening at once.

Ezra held his breath.

Every single cell door was open.

"The cadets-!" He muttered under his breath.

Dozens of confused kids stepped out of their cells, glancing around. Hundreds of eyes landed on Ezra standing over Eli.

Eli's eyes widened slightly.

A whole gang of Empire-controlled soldiers had walled them in.

* * *

"Did you try slapping him awake?" Trixie sighed, holding an empty water canteen, a foghorn, and a paper fan someone managed to rustle from the depths of a knapsack.

Along with a bunch of other stuff they couldn't even name.

Kord glanced over at Junjie, strapped down onto a makeshift cot to keep him from rolling onto the floor as the ship rumbled.

There was a small bruise on his forehead where he was struck by Erza's blast, which was already healing nicely.

The hit had left him in a near comatose state, still in his cadet armor.

"I dunno," Kord took off helmet, rubbing his head. He looked over the red marks on Junjie's face.

"He didn't wake up the first ten times..."

"Eleven's the charm?" Trixie shrugged, looking for a response.

Kord decided otherwise.

"If you'd allow me to step in," Pronto cracked his knuckles, somewhat daintily dusting off his hands.

Trixie dumped the huge pile of junk from her arms, exasperated.

"That'd be great," Trixie said, slumping down onto her seat..

"Cause if I slap him again, he might start bleeding on us."

"Wonderful." Pronto promptly sat down and began to undo his shoelaces.

Kord and Trixie didn't pay too much attention.

"So you said Ezra did this?" Trixie turned her gaze over to the clone trooper beside her.

Rex shrugged.

"Never seen anything like it," He muttered.

"Though I doubt it was on purpose."

Rex rubbed at his beard in thought.

"We found Eli there, too."

Kord immediately straightened up in his chair, close to jumping through the roof of the ship.

The room swayed from side to side, rumbling whenever the Ghost took a hit.

Trixie leaned onto her elbows in angst.

" _Aaaaand,_ you didn't bring him back with you because...?" She rolled the last word off her tongue bitterly.

Rex hesitated, respecting the redhead's short temper.

"Well," He started.

"First off... Eli attacked us."

Kord raised his head slightly. He looked exhausted after spending the whole night awake.

"Eli?" He echoed, not entirely believing Rex's word.

"Attacked you?"

Rex crossed his arms, ignoring the molenoid rolling on the floor who seemed to be at war with his own shoe.

"Not me," He said, rubbing his neck.

"Ezra."

Pronto, yanked off his boot with a _pop_ , wiggling his toes.

"This should do it..." He proclaimed triumphantly. No one was really listening.

"You're making this up," Trixie crossed her arms.

Kord nodded, furrowing his brow.

"Trixie's right. Eli would never-"

"As soon as the kid came to, he jumped right at Ezra's throat." Rex cut in.

"I don't care if you believe me or not - I don't even believe that it's really his fault, according to your friend here..." Rex motioned towards Junjie.

Trixie groaned, planting her face in her hands.

"We should have gone with you guys."

Pronto cracked his knuckles, then his neck, then his back.

"Eli will be fine," Said the molenoid, cradling his boot in his arm.

"He has his brother chasing after him."

Trixie raised an eyebrow.

"You mean the same brother that he tried to strangle to death?"

Pronto opened his mouth, rethought the conversation, and quickly closed his mouth.

"How'd you even get here, anyway?" Kord asked suspiciously, cocking his head to the side.

Pronto shrugged, plopping down by Junjie's side.

"Something with Redhook, a wrench, and a couple of empty soda cans. And plot movement."

"Plot movement...?" Rex questioned.

"What's that supposed to-"

Rex was cut short by a heavy, nauseous retching sound.

Everyone glanced over to the makeshift cot where Junjie was strapped down.

Junjie was squirming in his restraints, jerking his head away from the boot that Pronto was holding to his face.

"Not in the ship!" Rex shouted, clambering to his feet.

Luckily, the Empire hadn't been feeding Junjie very much.

It was necessary to blink rapidly to get the odor out of his eyes.

Pronto seemed very proud of himself.

"See?" He said, triumphantly holding up his shoe.

"Works every time."

Everyone cringed a little at the smell. All the way up in the cockpit, Hera was double-checking the ship for poisonous gas.

As soon as Pronto put his boot back onto his foot, the smell lessened by about eight percent (according to the systems in the Ghost).

Junjie took a breath of slightly-less-awful air, letting his head rest against the cot.

"Junjie?" Kord asked cautiously, prepared for whatever Rex had described in Eli.

Junjie closed his eyes, letting his head rest against the cot made out of arachnet silk.

"Did I kill anyone?"


End file.
